The holidays can really take a toll on your kitchen. Heed these plumbing tips from Parthenon Plumbing Heating & Cooling to avoid worrying about your pipes when you should be enjoying your people.
1. Manage Your Food Waste
After finishing your incredible meal this holiday, don’t rush through the clean up! During this transition period it’s easy to hurry and cause mistakes that can impact your kitchen.
For those homes with garbage disposals, it’s important to know your appliance’s limits. Despite its name, we do not recommend putting any garbage through the hole in your sink! Instead, stick to food scraps. But even food scraps have a long list of do’s and don’ts.
What can I put in my garbage disposal?
Softer non-starchy food items are perfect for any disposal. This would include items like turkey meat, vegetable scraps, fruit scraps, casseroles and pumpkin pie.
As your local plumbing experts, we recommend discarding most hard foods as compost or trash. Hard foods can tax your disposal or cause it to fail, especially if it is older or operates at a low horsepower.
Now ice is different. It’s the only non-food item with a hard composition that is safe for your disposal. It has even picked up recently as a great way to clean your disposal.
To clean, simply take a tray of ice cubes and dump them into your sink. Turn on your disposal and allow the ice to do its work. The initial toughness of the ice helps break off any lingering food bits, meanwhile isn’t too hard on your disposal. To give your sink a fresh and cleanly smell, squeeze lemon juice in while the appliance breaks down the ice.
What should NOT go in the garbage disposal?
Hard items are the obvious food items to keep out of your disposal, like bones, corn cobs, shells and any non-food item.
Another temptation on Thanksgiving is disposing of grease, fats, and oil down the drain. According to a recent consumer report, 33% of users put grease and fats into their disposals, but don’t do it! These items specifically can cause blockages in your pipes. If you accidently have one of these items go down your drain, you’ll want to turn on your hot water to help flush out the intruder.
Another no-no is starchy foods like potatoes (yes, even mashed), pasta, rice, beans and noodles. These foods hold water and can expand, which if left sitting can burden your pipes and lead to clogs.
Finally, fibrous foods should be withheld from your disposal. The texture of these food (like corn husks or celery) can create a tangled mess in your sink and cause your disposal to malfunction.
Use the helpful graphic below as a quick reference of things a disposal can and cannot handle.:
If you do not have a disposal, things are much easier. However, we do recommend using a sufficient sink drain strainer while washing the dishes to keep your pipes happy and clog-free.
2. Space Out Hot Water Activities
For homes with traditional water heaters, you’ll want to watch the water usage on turkey day. If company is staying over, more hot water will be required for showers, etc. By simply spacing out your hot water activities, you can make sure you have hot water when you need it (in the bathroom or the kitchen!).
If you are tired of running out of hot water at your house, then consider going tankless. And there are more perks to tankless water heaters than just unlimited hot water. READ: 5 Benefits of a Tankless Water Heater
3. Have Plumbing & Drains Inspected by a Professional
Truly the best way to guard against any holiday surprises is to have your home plumbing checked by a service professional ahead of the big day. Parthenon Plumbing Heating & Cooling has a team of qualified plumbers ready to quality-check your home.
What’s Included in a Plumbing Inspection?
A service inspection includes a whole-home assessment of your plumbing with attention given to early leak detection/repair and clog prevention. We’ll make sure every plumbing fixture is working to its best ability.
Use the following graphic for a few bonus plumbing tips this Thanksgiving.
If you want to avoid plumbing issues when you should be enjoying family, call Parthenon at 615-298-2995 to get on schedule before Thanksgiving. The office will be closed for the holiday, but emergency services will be available on Black Friday, so if any issues in your kitchen arise, remember that we’re ready to help!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from your Parthenon Plumbing Heating & Cooling family!
