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Save Your Holiday: Plumbing Tips to Prepare Your House for Guests

holiday plumbing

Published By: webdev

While Christmas is a few weeks from today, you should start preparing to receive guests now. The sooner you begin your prep, the sooner you can successfully fend off any holiday plumbing incidents. Here are 5 basics to prepare your home to receive guests this holiday season.

5 Holiday Plumbing Tips to Follow

  1. Keep Plungers in Your Bathrooms

The kindest thing you can do for your guests is to keep a plunger in your bathroom. In the case that they experience a clogged toilet, they can skip the embarrassment and go straight to fixing the problem. This is especially important during the holidays, where your bathrooms receive a ton of use. In fact, overuse and excess toilet paper are two of the most common reasons behind clogged toilets.

An extra bonus is keeping air freshener stocked in your bathroom in case of any, uh… incidents.

 

  1. Find Ways to Store Grease

While plenty of holiday food produces grease or drippings, you shouldn’t pour these liquids down your sink or garbage disposal. Grease can solidify in your pipes, causing clogs that no one wants to deal with on a holiday. Instead, use leftover cans or jars you don’t use to store excess grease or oils. If you have a large amount that you can’t comfortably store, ask your local recycling center what the recommended disposal method is.

 

  1. Make Covers for Outdoor Faucets and Pipes

While the weather in Arizona is usually nice and hot, the temperatures can drop much lower in the evening. The last thing you need are frozen pipes during your festivities. Water expands as it freezes, meaning your pipes may form cracks or even break altogether. Burst pipes can cause severe water damage that is expensive to fix. To avoid these issues, place covers on your outdoor faucets and pipes to prevent freezing.

 

  1. Clean Out Your Septic Tank

If your home has a septic tank, be sure to perform maintenance on it before having lots of guests over. A septic tank is an underground container. It holds your wastewater and treats it before returning it to the ground. So when you flush your toilet or clean your dirty dishes, all the water is going through that tank. A professional should be pumping, flushing, and rinsing your septic tank every three years or so. Before your toilet is subject to plenty of use, get this tank pumped out.

 

  1. Make Sure Your Water Heater Works

Have guests staying over? Between showers, dish washing, and sink use, your water heater will receive a lot of use during this time. Don’t let anybody’s hot water run out in the middle of their shower—make sure your water heater is up to date. If it’s been 10 years since the last installation, it might be best to replace it.

 

Recommended reading: No Hot Water? 5 Water Heater Warning Signs to Watch Out for

 

Follow these holiday plumbing tips to make sure your gatherings are full of joy and laughter. Got an issue you can’t fix on your own? Call our plumbing experts at 602-883-2761.