Avoid a Thanksgiving Day Plumbing Disaster

Did you know that the busiest day of the year for plumbers is the day after Thanksgiving?

It’s true.  And it’s true because of all the gook that gets force fed to your garbage disposal the day before, whether it’s meant to go in there or not.  Clearly, much of it belongs elsewhere, i.e., in the trash.

At Len The Plumber, we love the long Thanksgiving holiday every bit as much as you do.  Spending time with our families and friends, catching a little football action, enjoying the clean, crisp fall temperatures.  We love it so much, in fact, that we’re going to offer a little friendly advice to help you avoid having to call us that Friday (or at any point that weekend) to clear your clogged sink drain or garbage disposal.

Of course, if you need us, then just like always we’ll be there to get everything back in proper working order.

In the meantime, here’s list of “do’s” and “don’ts” for your Thanksgiving Day clean-up:

Garbage Disposal Don’ts

• Dump grease down the drain. (grease solidifies in your drain much like it does in a pan left overnight.) Even if you run hot water afterwards.
• Force large amounts of food down disposal all at once.
• Put celery, onion peels, lettuce, or other fibrous foods in the disposal…these are very difficult for the blades to grind up, meaning they’re more like to cause a blockage.)
• Put pasta, potatoes, rice, or coffee in your garbage disposal, either.  Same reason.
• Put bones down disposal.  Not only is it not good for the disposal, it’s murder on your ears!

Garbage Disposal Do’s:

• Run water for about 60 seconds to flush out grease left in disposal.
• Keep water flowing while the disposal is running.
• Put ice cubes in your disposal.  They help keep the blades sharp.
• Put small chunks of lemon peel in your disposal.  This helps to de-odorize the drain.

Still, things have a way of going wrong, even with the best of intentions.  If any of those plumbing “things” happen to you , then don’t hesitate:  pick up the phone and call Len The Plumber.  In the meantime, please accept our best wishes for a very Happy Thanksgiving.