During the holiday season most people are busily running around trying to get meals prepared and gifts wrapped. This is the time of year when people will host dinner parties or, have out of town guests stay for overnight visits.
When you are trying to prepare or clean up a meal for several people, it is not unusual to put some things down the kitchen drain that you know you probably shouldn’t. You say a little prayer, and then shove that sink full of potato peels down the drain and flip the garbage disposal switch, and sometimes it’s fine and nothing happens. And, other times you see a rush of cloudy, disgusting water rising up in your sink despite your protests and demands that it return to the depths from which it came.
A kitchen sink clog is a very common holiday plumbing emergency. And, there are things that you can do to help and things that will make it worse if you do them. Here are some DON’Ts for holiday plumbing emergencies:
- DON’T panic. A kitchen sink clog is very unsettling. Not only is there a sink full of bacteria laden water in your kitchen sink that won’t go away, but now you can’t use your sink and you have a houseful of people to prepare meals for. But, panicking and getting excited will only make the situation worse. Stay calm.
- DON’T use chemicals. An over the counter drain cleaner can be alluring. The idea that all you have to do is pour the bottle of sludge into the drain and away goes the clog sounds great. But, these chemicals are very caustic and can be more damaging to your plumbing system than helpful.
- DON’T hesitate. If you have a plumbing emergency during the holidays, don’t hesitate to call a professional plumber. Leaving the situation to wait until a ‘better time’ could cause serious problems with your plumbing system and might make the current situation worse.
The fun part of the holidays is the food. Many households don’t prepare or eat as much food as they do during the holiday season. And, the food during this time of year are rich and dense making the clean up a challenge. If your kitchen sink develops a clog, make sure NOT to do these things so that your clog can get cleared and you can be back to cooking and eating.