5 Plumbing Maintenance Tips to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Gatherings
The holiday season is a time to gather with family and friends, enjoy delicious meals, and create unforgettable memories. However, with all the cooking and entertainment that comes with the holidays, your plumbing system can experience a lot of wear and tear. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s fast approaching, it’s time to start preparing your home for holiday gatherings. This includes ensuring your plumbing system is ready to handle the extra load. A clogged sink, toilet, or garbage disposal can quickly ruin your holiday plans. Follow these five plumbing maintenance tips to prepare your home for holiday gatherings and enjoy a merry and stress-free season!
1. Check For Leaks
Leaks in your home’s plumbing system are a major cause of damage to your home and an extremely expensive home plumbing repair. They can also waste a significant amount of water, costing you money and contributing to environmental issues.
A few signs that you may have a leak include abnormally high-water bills, stains on ceilings or walls, and bubbling or peeling paint. These are all indications that you have a water leak and should be looked at by expert plumbing services to find the source of your problem.
Another way to check for leaks in your home is by checking the water meter. To do this, activate the shut-off valve on your main water plumbing supply to the house and then read the meter. After an hour, recheck the meter to see if any of the numbers have changed. If they have, the leak is in your home, and you should call a plumber immediately.
In the meantime, you can try to pinpoint where the leak is by looking for puddles of water around the base of your sinks and tubs. You can also use a moisture meter to detect if there is a moisture problem in your cabinets or beneath your washer, clothes dryer, or water heater.
You may need to hire the best plumbers in Matawan, NJ, to help you with this, but it can save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Taking the time to check for leaks in your home will also help to preserve our precious water resources.
2. Avoid Putting Grease Down The Drain
Cooking greases such as lard, shortening, and butter may look harmless at room temperature, but they can quickly cool and harden into a thick sludge that blocks pipes. It can cause clogs in the kitchen sink, bathtubs, toilets, and even your laundry lines.
Grease should never be poured down the drain, especially if you are connected to a city sewer system. It can wreak havoc on your plumbing and eventually cause blockages in the municipal sewer system as well.
As a result, many cities spend millions of dollars each year to address sewer problems caused by the indiscriminate flushing of fats, oils, and grease. This type of waste often forms large sludge-like globs that combine to form a solid mass that can weigh several tons.
You can avoid this problem by waiting to use cooking oil until it cools down to room temperature before pouring it down the drain. It is also best to recycle grease rather than put it down the drain.
When you are done cooking, use a paper towel to soak up the grease and then dispose of it properly. This will keep your kitchen sink free of greasy build-up and prevent clogs in your plumbing. This can help ensure that you are not faced with a costly plumbing issue later on during your holiday gatherings.
3. Keep Your Garbage Disposal In Good Condition
As you gear up for the holiday season, you may want to keep your garbage disposal in good condition. If not, you could wind up with a clogged drain and disposal that grinds to a halt before it can get the job done.
To avoid a costly home plumbing repair, you need to make sure that you only put the type of food waste down the disposal that it can absorb. This includes small amounts of meat, poultry, and fish, as well as pasta, rice, bread, and potatoes.
You should also try to avoid throwing anything down the sink that can damage your disposals, such as meat bones and oil or grease. These can break the motor and cause the drain to clog. If you do need to grind up larger foods, be sure to break them up before sending them down the disposal. This will help your garbage disposal work more efficiently and extend its life.
The most important thing you can do to keep your garbage disposal in good shape is to run it at least once a day, even when you don’t have any food in the disposal. This helps to sharpen the blades and keeps them from getting rusty.
You can also use ice cubes to clean your garbage disposal and to keep it in good condition. Just add some ice cubes and run it with cold water to clean it up. This will also help to scour any hard-to-clean areas inside the disposal and help to get rid of the odors that build up.
4. Inspect Your Water Heater
One of the biggest problems that plumbers in Matawan, NJ, face during the holidays is hot water heater failure. During the holiday season, people often spend more time indoors, and their demand for hot water is higher.
If your water heater isn’t heating up enough hot water, you may be left with lukewarm or cold showers or even run-off water. This can be a very stressful situation for your family, especially if you are preparing for a Christmas party or gathering with friends and family!
The best way to prevent this from happening is to have your water heater inspected by a professional plumber. You can hire plumbing services to come out and do an inspection of your home to tell you whether or not you need a new water heater. You should also make sure that your water heater is up to date and working properly. This can help to prevent it from breaking down during the winter.
A hot water heater is a major appliance that many households use on a daily basis. Its job is to heat up cold incoming water and use appropriate plumbing to supply the house with hot water for cooking, washing clothes, and sanitizing dishes. It can also store hot water for future use.
5. Be Mindful Of Your Toilet
Your toilet is a key bathroom fixture in any home and can be an easy way for germs to spread. As a result, it’s important to keep it clean and free from unseen odors. One way to do this is by regularly cleaning your toilet bowl. This will keep it fresh and help prevent stains.
Another important tip is not to flush reactive products and chemicals down the toilet. These can react with your bathroom’s plumbing and may cause clogs and other issues. You can also use a toilet brush to wipe down the inside of your toilet, especially under the rim and around the waterline. It will remove a lot of build-ups in just a few minutes.
Finally, make sure to use only toilet paper – no tissues or other things that are not meant to be flushed down the drain. This will prevent a toilet clog and keep your guests from having to search for trash cans in the bathroom.
Conclusion
Gatherings with family and friends can be a joyous time, but they also put stress on your home’s plumbing system. This is especially true during the holidays when your house is likely to be bustling with activity due to cooking, cleaning, and visiting guests.
The last thing you want to do is have a plumbing issue during a holiday gathering, such as a clogged toilet or flooded basement! Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to help fend off plumbing emergencies during the holidays.
One of the most important things you can do to prepare your home for holiday gatherings is to make sure your plumbing is ready for extra traffic and usage. With a little effort, you can avoid a costly home plumbing repair and enjoy your time with loved ones without having to deal with a clogged toilet or water damage in your bathroom.
Another thing you can do to prepare yourself for holiday gatherings is to ensure your kitchen and bathroom’s plumbing are well-maintained. This includes having your sinks and tubs drained thoroughly before your guests arrive, so you don’t have any drain clogs in the middle of a meal or shower.
The holiday season is a great time to be mindful of your toilet! In addition to practicing mindfulness in the shower, try taking a few minutes to sit in your bathroom and focus on your breathing. This will help you feel more relaxed and less stressed! This practice will benefit your health in the long run.
AUTHOR BIO
Roma Nisbet works as the Lead Marketing Manager for Apollo Sewers and Plumbing, a leading plumbing expert in Keyport, NJ. She also enjoys fly fishing, skiing, visiting science and technology events, and helping out people in her free time.