How to Invite a Plumber to Your Thanksgiving Dinner

The holiday season is busy for many people and that includes plumbers. In fact, the day after Thanksgiving tends to be one of our busiest of the year. Not only are people stuffing themselves with turkey, but sometimes they stuff their drains as well. Holiday hosting is stressful enough without accidentally inviting your plumber. Here are some plumbing mistakes you’ll want to avoid unless you want to make sure your plumber attends.

5 Easy Steps to Get a Plumber to Come to Your Thanksgiving

Here are five things you can do if you want your friendly and certified plumber to join you during or shortly after your Thanksgiving meal.

1.     Everything Down the Garage Disposal

This is a big no-no and a sure-fire way to break your disposal or clog your drains. Stringy, fibrous and starchy waste including celery, potato peals and turkey skin can bind blades or create a paste that will clog up the drain. Bones can break the disposal, dull the blades or even get stuck causing the drain to backup.

2.     Pour Grease Down the Drain

Leftover fats, cooking oil and grease from your pots and pans are another great way to clog your drains. When they hit the cooler pipes, they solidify and can form a clog in your pipes so far down that only a professional drain cleaning plumber can reach it.

3.     Wait to Run Your Garbage Disposal

You may also be able to clog your kitchen sink by waiting until your garage disposal is full of food before turning it on. Typically, you would want to turn on the disposal and the water before tossing any food in to avoid a potential back up. You would also want to leave the water running for a few seconds after turning the disposal off to fully clear the drain.

4.     Encourage Back-to-Back Showers from Overnight Guests

If you have friends or family staying with you over the holiday, there may be an increase in the amount of soap scum and hair making its way down the shower drain. Waiting even 10 minutes between showers should give slow drains enough time to do their jobs.

5.     Flush Anything That’s Not Toilet Paper

Hosting Thanksgiving means your bathrooms will be busier than normal, giving way to more opportunities for a clogged toilet. Leave cotton balls, so called “flushable” wipes and facial tissues in plain sight and make sure the waste bin can’t be located giving guests no other option than to try and flush them.

Time to Call a Plumber

If you’ve followed the above steps, you should be all set to make that call and invite your favorite plumber to stop by your Thanksgiving holiday. And although we do appreciate your calls and are so thankful that you trust us with your home, we’d really rather not have to crash your Thanksgiving.

To keep your plumbing in its best working condition, the items on the above list should be avoided at all costs. However, if you do find yourselves in the middle of a plumbing emergency this holiday or if you’d like to schedule a preventative pipe cleaning to make sure your pipes and drains are ready for the holiday season, we are here to help. Give us a call at  612-354-8984 or schedule an appointment online.