More than any other season, the fall is when your plumbing system takes a beating. For most people, fall is the time of year when they settle in for indoor activities including having friends and family over for large meals and overnight visits.
The fall season brings dense, starchy foods that are warming and thick. But, that means that on the heels of the summer months when very little plumbing maintenance is done, the heavy fall foods can easily cause clogs and drain problems.
Here are some things that you can do to make sure that your kitchen plumbing is ready for the fall season:
- Make sure that everyone in your household knows what should and should not be put into the garbage disposal. The fall season means cooking with a lot of root vegetables like potatoes and carrots. These vegetables have a tough skin and, when peeled, the peels should not be put in the disposal. That’s true for the cooked version of these vegetables as well. A pile of leftover mashed potatoes should always be put in the garbage can. The thick, starch nature of this food can quickly cause a build-up in your disposal drain.
- Talk with your plumber about having your disposal blades sharpened and cleaned. The blades must be in top working order to be able to effectively macerate the food particles that are put in the disposal. Also, any corrosion or build-up that has accumulated around the bottom of the blades should be cleaned out. This will help them to rotate without obstruction.
- An inexpensive and easy way to try and wash away some of the build-up in your kitchen drain pipes is to boil a pot of water on the stove (a stockpot full), plug the kitchen sink with a drain plug that has a chain or a string tied to it, pour the stockpot full of boiling water into the plugged drain, add a tablespoon of baking soda, and then pull the plug. This creates a cyclone of water that softens and scrubs the sides of the pipes and pushes away the build-up.
Before your friends and family arrive for their visit, take some time to do these few maintenance checks for your kitchen plumbing. Your kitchen will be busy making and cleaning up delicious meals and desserts and a clog or leak will quickly bring all of the fun and festivities to a halt.