Plumbing Tips for Holiday Guests

Now that we are deep in the middle of the holiday season, it’s time to cozy up by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa, enjoy the Christmas lights, cook up delicious holiday feasts and most importantly, take a break from our busy lives and spend more time with the ones we love. After all, the holidays are a great time for everyone to come together.

What about you, will you be entertaining for the holidays? Will your college-age children be coming home for winter break? Will your parents or in-laws be traveling from out-of-state to see you and the grandkids? Will you be throwing a huge holiday bash?

Whether you plan on entertaining 50 guests for a Christmas or New Year’s party, or 10 family members for a week, it’s important to make sure your plumbing can handle the additional load. The last thing you want is a backed-up toilet when you have a house full of guests, a clogged shower drain in the guest bathroom, or broken garbage disposal on Christmas morning!

Plumbing tips for a smooth holiday season:

• If you’re already having problems with a clogged drain, toilet, or garbage disposal, call on a plumber to take care of the problem well-before your guests are scheduled to arrive.
• Consider having a plumber clean your drains if you’ve never done it before.
  If you have a “questionable” toilet that’s prone to clogging, have a plumber come out and get down to the bottom of the problem and take care of it. This way, you can avoid a backed-up toilet when guests arrive.
• Put hair-catching devices on all bathroom drains (bathtubs, showers, and bathroom sinks). This prevents hair from clogging the drains.
• Use a Zip-It tool (available on Amazon and at most home improvement, plumbing, and superstores) and clean out all bathroom drains of hair and sludge.
• Avoid putting grease, eggshells, coffee grounds, and fibrous foods down the garbage disposal.
• Avoid flushing anything but toilet paper down the toilet! Teach family members NOT to flush paper towels, cotton balls, trash, Q-tips, tissues, and anything else down the toilet. Otherwise, you can quickly have a plumbing emergency on your hands.

At Excalibur Plumbing, we want to wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season. If you need plumbing services in Cedar Park or Leander, contact us to schedule a service call with an experienced plumber.