‘Tis the time to give lavish gifts to your loves ones, eat excessive amounts of ham and turkey, get a good dose of vitamin D and spend some quality time with your plumber. Right?
Christmas cooking and the dreaded post-Christmas clean-up can result in a lot of unwanted waste in the kitchen drain. Plus, all of those extra guests use more water than what your household plumbing is accustomed to. So it should come as no surprise that the period after Christmas is the busiest time of the year for plumbers. More often than not, plumbers are called in after Christmas to fix problems that have been there for some time, like partially clogged drains, but which have laid dormant, waiting for the worst time to wreak havoc on your wasteful and water-hungry holiday guests.
Unless you’re really close with your plumber, you can avoid having to schedule some one-on-one time with him or her over the festive season by following these helpful tips:
- If you have a full house of water-hungry guests over the festive season, encourage them to wait 15 minutes between showers so that your drains have time to do their thing.
- Cooking oil and fat solidifies in pipes, so don’t pour either down the drain. Instead, wipe greasy pots with a paper towel and throw it in the rubbish.
- Cotton balls, sanitary items, hair or wipes don’t dissolve. Instead they block pipes, so don’t throw them down the toilet! That even includes ‘flushable wipes’! If you’re concerned that your holiday guests might be too lazy to deposit these items in the bin (that’s incidentally within an arm’s reach), try putting a ‘friendly’ sign up.
By following these simple rules, you and your guests can minimise the chance of plumbing nightmares ruining the Christmas spirit in your house. And, of course, try to address any plumbing problems before the big day. Finally, know your limits! Minor plumbing problems can easily become plumbing catastrophes if not handled by professionals. So, don’t try and be a hero this Christmas, unless you’re absolutely sure (or 99.9% sure) you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, you could put a damper on what is meant to be the most wonderful time of the year, or worse still – you might just make Santa’s naughty list!