For all of us Christmas means a whole lot more of everything – food and liquid consumption, kitchen waste, major water usage and visitors galore – all putting considerable pressure on your household pipes.
You may be stressed but spare a thought for your poor plumbing!
For plumbers the days following Christmas are sometimes the busiest time of the year.
There are a number of things that you can do to make sure that your house’s plumbing is in top shape in the lead up to Christmas by following these five tips:
1/ Watch out for potential blockage signs… and smells.
- A major contributor to toilet clogs is increased usage. So if your toilet or sinks are already draining slowly, making gurgling noises or smelling bad, it’s time to call a plumber now before you face an overflowing toilet.
- One of the most common causes of blocked and crushed sewer pipes is tree roots. If you have any big trees near these pipes, it might be time for us to come around for a ‘healthy pipe inspection’.
2/ Prepare the bathrooms for extra use.
- If you have more than one toilet or bathroom, make sure they are all clean and available to use. It’s best for the pipes if the love is spread around.
- Have a bin prominently placed next to your toilet for visitors to use. Sanitary items, baby wipes, paper towels and make-up remover pads don’t dissolve and can block pipes. Oh and using those ‘flushable’ toilet wipes will definitely put you on the environmentally friendly naughty list!
3/ Don’t cut corners in the kitchen.
- Busy kitchens mean a lot more waste and it can be tempting to save time by putting scraps down sinks or disposers. Oil and grease or stringy, fibrous waste such as turkey skins, potato/banana skins or fruit pits should not go in the waste disposer. Ditto for coffee grounds and egg/nut shells.
- Pipes can become easily clogged with cooking oil and grease. Use paper towels or newspaper to soak up oil or wipe out pots and pans, and then throw it in the bin.
4/ Fill up the gas bottles.
- Make sure you have full gas bottles at least a couple of days before Christmas Day lunch. Even better, connect your BBQ to your home’s gas system and you never have to worry again about running out of gas mid-cooking. It’s a simple process that saves you time, money and Curran are the experts. Check out our post about throwing away old gas bottles for more information.
5/ Is your hot water system up to the task?
- With extra visitors in the house, running out of hot water doesn’t have to be inevitable. It may be time to replace an ageing hot water system now rather than later. Check out our guide to helping you choose the right hot water system for your needs.
- Ask your guests and family to stagger their showers over both the morning and night so there isn’t as much pressure on the hot water.
- You could also get into the habit of running the dishwasher at night or pre-programing your washing machine for early morning washes so they are not interfering with showers.
Curran will be working over the Christmas and holiday period, so if anything does go wrong, we are available on 1300 045 240 to assist.