Thanksgiving Plumbing Tips

Keep the Kitchen Sink Off the Guest List: Thanksgiving Plumbing Tips from Your Neighborhood Plumbers

Thanksgiving is a big day for your plumbing. The kitchen sink runs all morning, the dishwasher goes nonstop, and the guest bathroom gets more traffic than it sees all year. The last thing anybody wants is a backed-up drain right before the pie comes out.

We're the local plumbers serving Galveston County and south Houston, and here are the Thanksgiving plumbing tips we'd give our own family before the turkey goes in.

1. Keep grease out of the drain

• Never pour turkey grease, oil or butter down the sink. It cools, hardens and sticks to your pipes.
• Pour it into an old can or jar, let it cool, and throw it in the trash.
• Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before you wash them.

2. Go easy on the garbage disposal

• Skip potato peels, celery, onion skins, bones, fruit pits and coffee grounds. They jam the blades or build up in the pipes.
• Rice and pasta swell with water, so keep those out too.
• Run cold water before, during and after, and feed scraps in a little at a time.

3. Give your water heater a breather

• A full house means a lot of hot water: showers, dishes and the dishwasher, all at once.
• Space showers a few minutes apart so your water heater can catch up.
• Run the dishwasher after dinner, not while everybody's getting ready.

4. Get the guest bathroom ready

• Keep a plunger by every toilet, so nobody has to come ask for one.
• Put a small trash can in the bathroom, and remind guests that only toilet paper goes down. Even wipes labeled "flushable" can cause clogs.
• Take care of slow drains or a running toilet before company comes.

5. Know where your main water shutoff is

• If a pipe bursts or a toilet overflows, turning the water off fast saves your floors.
• Find your main shutoff valve now, and make sure it turns.

Thanksgiving plumbing questions we hear a lot

Can I pour grease down the drain if I run hot water with it?
No. Hot water only carries the grease farther down the pipe, where it cools and hardens. Let it cool and throw it away.

What shouldn't go in a garbage disposal?
Potato peels, celery, onion skins, bones, fruit pits, coffee grounds, rice and pasta. When in doubt, use the trash.

Why does my hot water run out when we have company?
Your water heater can only heat so much at once. Spacing out showers and the dishwasher helps. If it runs out fast even on normal days, it may need a flush or a check.

What should I do if my sink backs up on Thanksgiving?
Stop running water into it, and don't pour in drain cleaner. Try a plunger, and if it won't clear, give us a call.

Get your plumbing holiday-ready

If you've got a slow drain, a toilet that keeps running, or a water heater that's been acting up, now is the time to have it looked at. A quick visit before the holidays beats a backed-up sink with a house full of guests. Our Whole-Home Maintenance Plan is another way to catch little problems before they turn into big ones.

Give us a call at (409) 945-7202. Family owned since 1976, and always on the way.