Plumbing Preparedness For Holiday Gatherings
The holidays are a time for good cheer, giving, and bringing families together – but giving shouldn’t come at the detriment of your home’s plumbing system.
How can you protect your plumbing system before the holiday season?
Keep reading as we help you ensure your plumbing is in tip-top condition for your guests during the holidays while minimizing wear and tear.
Plumbing Considerations For The Holidays
Before you begin ticking things off your holiday plumbing checklist, let’s discuss the top considerations to make for your plumbing during the holidays:
● Increased use – there will be many people using your plumbing system if you have guests staying with you during the holiday. So, there will be more wear and tear on your plumbing system than normal.
● Cold weather – if it’s a white Christmas, you’ll have a perfectly picturesque holiday season, but your plumbing system may struggle. Cold weather freezes water, increasing the likelihood of burst pipes, so weatherproofing is a serious consideration.
● Dishwashing – Christmas and Thanksgiving are some of the most messy holidays. Your kitchen will be filled with food waste and dirty dishes, so your garbage disposal will be put through the wringer, and your sinks could be clogged.
Plumbing Tips For The Holidays
Here are some of our top plumbing tips for the holidays. Create your checklist now to ensure everything runs smoothly and your kitchens and bathrooms stay working – the last thing you need is no running water when you’ve got guests!
Clear Your Drains
If you clear your drains before your guests arrive, you can minimize the potential for leaks, backups, foul odours, and other hiccups that could interrupt your holiday plans. Unclogging your drains can be done using a few different methods:
● Hydro jetting – a professional plumber uses a high-pressure jet to blast water through your drains and unclog them. We recommend leaving this to a professional to prevent accidents and damage.
● Snaking – you can use a drain snake to gently remove the debris and nasties from your drains before your guests arrive. Simply insert the long drain snake into your sink or drain, rotate it, and begin pulling out any hair, food, or debris that may be piled up inside.
● Chemical agents – there are plenty of drain-unblocking chemicals you can use to break down the stuff blocking your drains. However, you mustn’t use these excessively as it can result in damage to your pipes.
By using one of these methods, you can ensure quick and smooth drainage so your family can shower, cook, and use the bathroom without any nasty or inconvenient surprises.
Insulate Your Plumbing
Ice has a higher volume than water, which means water in your pipes can increase in volume when it freezes. When this happens, it’s likely that your pipes won’t be able to withstand the pressure and will burst.
To prevent this from happening, it’s in your best interest to insulate your plumbing. You can hire a professional to do this and ease the burden on your to-do list, or you can insulate them with strips of pipe wrap yourself. Another way to insulate your plumbing is to ensure your walls are properly insulated. You should also take steps to insulate your outdoor taps, which are especially vulnerable to freezing.
Manage Food Waste Properly
When you have guests over for the holidays, it’s best to manage food waste yourself. You don’t want your cousin or aunt blocking your garbage disposal or breaking it by mistake! To take care of your drains, ensure all plates are rinsed of food in the garbage disposal sink before placing them into your main sink to soak. This best practice ensures that your food won’t start clogging the sink.
You should also avoid placing the following foods into your garbage disposal:
● Fruit pits
● Stringy, starchy foods
● Coffee grounds
● Small wrappers
● Dense animal bones
If you’ll have some little helpers in the kitchen during the holiday season, be sure to tell them about these rules so they don’t break anything in your kitchen. If you have a dishwasher, instruct them to scrape and rinse the plates thoroughly before placing them onto the dishwasher racks.
Try To Limit Water Usage
Limiting your water usage is difficult during the holiday season, as there are so many visitors staying the night or even for a few weeks! Before inviting your family to stay with you, it’s a good idea to introduce some ‘house rules’ so your guests don’t overdo it with the showers and baths.
Contact Caldwell Plumbing For Pre-Holiday Plumbing Care
Are you feeling the holiday spirit? By following this guide for holiday plumbing care, you can ensure your holiday cheer isn’t interrupted by any unpleasantries with your plumbing system! A leak or burst pipe will dampen your good spirits, so get your plumbing to-do list sorted before the guests start rolling in.
At Caldwell Plumbing, we provide winterproofing services and maintenance for your plumbing, serving the Durham region and surrounding areas. Contact us today to access our friendly expertise!
