When the school year begins, everything gets kicked into high gear. From scheduling your kids after school activities to coordinating pick-up calendars with your significant other, your routines become jam-packed and fast-paced. Not to mention the added stress of the pandemic amidst an already hectic time of the year. From checking on homework to packing lunches, you have a lot of responsibilities, and the last thing you need is a plumbing malfunction to throw a monkey wrench into your busy day-to-day life...especially during the holiday season.
That’s why we here at ServiceOne Air Conditioning & Plumbing are relaying some holiday season plumbing tips! This year, you won’t have to worry about breakdowns around the bend or messy malfunctions disrupting your merry. Just follow these plumbing tips and you will be out of frights way:
Keep These Items Out Of Your Kitchen Drains
The holiday season, from Halloween to Christmas, is filled with sweet treats and decadent desserts. Our cookbooks and baking recipes move from our cabinets to our countertops, and we all get our hands dirty. However, with an increase in cooking comes the possibility for more drain stress—especially when it comes to your garbage disposal.
The first important tip to note is to keep all wrappings and casing out of your sink. Rinsing plastic, paper, wax, or any other covering down your disposal can cause blockages, as these materials are not manufactured to break down in your plumbing. So, from candy wrappers to butter envelopes, make sure you are strictly disposing of these items into your kitchen trash.
Secondly, all poultry and meat bones must be disposed of properly, as leftovers such as these can become stuck in between your garbage disposal blades and cause your motor to break. If this does occur, do not stick your hand down your system to try and repair this solo. Your blades can seriously injure you. If you believe something has compromised your disposal, contact your local professional plumbers for assistance.
Lastly, keep all oils out of your sink. If you have measured the ingredients for your pie incorrectly, pour them into a plastic container to remeasure, and then save the leftover contents. That way any oils or greases don’t end up in your piping, as these can cause extremely sticky situations. When oils solidify in your plumbing, subsequent food coming down your system will begin to cling to the coating the oil or grease left behind. This is extremely hard to clean and blockages will likely begin to occur consecutively.
Stagger Shower Times
If your family is staying with you, or your kids are having Halloween night sleepovers, it is important to communicate shower times with the lot. When you begin to shower in succession, your water heater is placed under a tremendous amount of pressure. You are asking your system to accomplish more than its normal daily responsibilities, and it can easily become overworked. If you notice that you run out of hot water quickly, or are stuck taking lukewarm showers, it is time to do something about it.
Try staggering your shower times and see if this gives your system enough time to recuperate! If this does not resolve your hot water woes, your system may need repairs or replacement. Here’s how you know which one you need:
If your system never performed as you had hoped, it is likely that your water heating appliance was not properly sized for your home. In this case, your system will need to be replaced. However, if you have simply noticed a drop off in your hot water heater function, your tank may simply need flushing. Sediment can build-up over time, blocking the heating coils in your appliance. A maintenance call should repair this predicament.
Stick To Professional Drain Cleaning
With more people at home, comes the potential for more drain clogs. If you are consistently reaching for a liquid drain cleaner to resolve slow drainage, it is time you learned the repercussions of using such products. Chemical drain cleaners will do more harm than good. As they consist of extremely abrasive toxins, they can negatively affect both your health and your plumbing.
From mucus membrane implications, respiratory irritation, and skin burns, chemical drain cleaners should be shelved for life. Not to mention, they can deteriorate your piping. This year, keep your plumbing system out of harm’s way by reaching out to the professionals for drain cleaning.
For plumbing maintenance, repairs, and replacement, contact ServiceOne Air Conditioning & Plumbing at (407) 499-8333! We are here to make sure you get through the holiday seasons malfunction-free!