If you want to keep your home’s plumbing system in tip-top shape, you need to make sure you’re taking care of your drains. It’s often the case that homeowners let their pipe-cleaning duties fall by the wayside when the holiday season rolls around — after all, there’s a lot to prep to get everything ready for a house full of guests, whether that’s for dinner or for a week of festivities.
More people, more use
The thing is, a plumbing problem is the last thing you want to deal with before your house is packed with friends and family. More people in the house means more usage of your drains. If you neglect your plumbing system and its drains before you have everyone over, you may discover some issues that previously went unnoticed.
Plumbing tips for a happy, stress-free holiday season
Here at ACE Home Services, we want to ensure that your plumbing system can handle the extra load of holiday traffic. Read on for some of the most important tips to keep in mind if you want to keep your drains clear during the holidays!
Prep your drains
Before everyone starts coming through the door, you’ll want to take a look at your drains to see which areas you might need to clean. A good place to start is usually your kitchen, since kitchen drains collect lots of residue from food.
Calcium buildup
If you suspect that your faucet has accumulated calcium, which is especially likely if your home has hard water, consider using vinegar to get rid of calcium buildup. Too much calcium causes issues like preventing water from flowing steadily through your pipes, which can eventually leave you dealing with blockages.
Smelly drains
Are you noticing some unpleasant odors emanating from your drains after a vinegar treatment? Boil yourself a pot of water to pour down your drain. Afterward, mix together vinegar and baking soda, which will make a foaming solution and pour that down the drain, too. Finally, grind up a couple lemon wedges and some ice cubes to use to clean your garbage disposal. This should guarantee that no nasty scents are coming from your drain by the time guests start to pour in. We also recommend that you treat your drains with an enzyme solution like BioClean to sanitize and deodorize your drains.
Start unclogging
Everything from your sinks to your garbage disposal are going to be working extra hard when you have a bunch of extra people over for the holidays. As such, you’ll need to keep an extra close eye on how much waste you’re putting down your drains.
Kitchen grease
Planning on cooking for the holiday season? The answer is more than likely yes, which means you need to make sure you’re getting rid of stuff such as grease and oil by throwing it away rather than tossing it into the sink. A good tip is to use empty cans and jars to store cooled-down oil and grease that you can then dump into your garbage bin.
Toilet maintenance
It’s important that you go inspect your water pressure before everyone arrives — flush your toilet and check how much water it uses as well as how fast it flushes. If you notice some suspicious sounds or that your toilet is flushing unusually slowly, grab a plunger and get to work unclogging. Otherwise you’ll have more than a few unhappy guests who won’t be able to use the bathroom.
Septic tanks
Remember that if you’ve dealt with backed-up toilets in the past and you use a septic system, your tank is prone to clogging. Septic tanks should be pumped every few years if you don’t want to experience backed-up sewage that causes clogging. Do your best to tackle this task before your guests start arriving for the holidays.
Check your water heater
Neither you nor your guests want to be surprised by a lack of hot water. You’ll want to ensure that your home’s hot water heater is ready to take on an increased workload for as long as you have more people occupying your home.
Start off by checking for strange-sounding noises or water leaks that may be coming from your water heater. Especially if it’s been a couple of years since you had your heater inspected, you’ll want a team like the experts at ACE Home Services to formally inspect your unit before your guests arrive.
It’s fine to adjust your water’s temperature to ensure that everyone has lots of hot water to use when they’re taking showers and baths — just make sure that you don’t make your water too hot so that no one gets burned. Also keep in mind that you may jack up for your utility costs a bit if you turn up your unit’s temperature.
Running into an issue? Give us a call!
You’ll have a much easier time getting everything ready to go for the holiday season if you stay on top of your plumbing maintenance throughout the year. You’ll be able to decrease the risk of dealing with plumbing emergencies when people arrive, and you’ll also cultivate a more inviting and comfortable environment that everybody can enjoy.
If you follow the tips we’ve laid out above and run into any issues along the way, though, don’t hesitate to give the plumbing professionals at ACE Home Services a call at (602) 517-0221. We’re standing by around the clock to make sure that you have the best holiday season possible.
