7 Thanksgiving Plumbing Tips to Share with Customers

If you’re a professional plumber, then you already know that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the busiest day for residential plumbing companies. It’s easy to see why: Thanksgiving means that many families are experiencing bustling activities in their kitchens and visiting guests usually means there’s a greater demand on our bathrooms, as well.

» Want to grow your plumbing business? Click here to get a demo.

While the holiday weekend may mean a surge of jobs for your shop, Thanksgiving is also an opportunity to engage with customers online, freshen up your content on your website (and/or social media) and build greater trust in your brand. Below, let’s take a look at seven plumbing tips to share with homeowners in your community before Thanksgiving.

1. Make Sure Your Home Is Ready

Unless a plumbing issue is urgent, homeowners tend to put off calling a professional. It’s easy to forget about these issues until busy weekends like Thanksgiving, where they can develop into something serious and ruin a family gathering.

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, remind your customers about the common plumbing issues that plague households this time of year and the value of preventative service. Plumbing needs maintenance like anything else and scheduling sink, toilet, shower, and water heater repairs before a family visit can go a long way.

There is also measures you can take to ensure that your home has a larger supply of hot water for guest visits. Encourage customers to inquire what can be done about this before their families visit.

2. Reduce Kitchen Traffic

Believe it or not, many of the calls that occur on or just after Thanksgiving have to do with foreign objects getting stuck in drains. Jewelry. Watches. Toys. Silverware. Broken glass. The list goes on.

One way to avoid these types of issues to reduce traffic in your kitchen. It’s normal for friends and family to want to help out in the kitchen or gather for conversations or drinks, but encouraging guests to use other spaces for socializing can help reduce distractions and accidents.

3. Properly Dispose of Grease

Cooking results in grease and grease can spell trouble for your plumbing. While it’s hot, grease seem like just another harmless liquid to pour down the drain. But as grease cools, it congeals (becomes solid) and can cause blockages in your pipes.

So make sure you dispose of grease the proper way following your Thanksgiving cooking: pour it into an extra mason jar or a plastic bag and toss it in the garbage when you’re done.

4. Don’t Treat Your Garbage Disposal like a Garbage Bag

Preparing a large meal means juggling a bunch of different responsibilities in the kitchen and that often means we look for places to cut corners. Too often, that means using our garbage disposal as a catch-all for food waste.

Yet there are a number of food products that can cause plumbing issues:

• Celery (and other fibrous foods)

• Potato peels

• Eggshells

• Bones

• Coffee grounds

• Pasta or noodles

• Fruit pits

5. Wait to Use Your Dishwasher

Your dishwasher and garbage disposal share the same drain, so it’s important to keep this in mind before running a your next load of Thanksgiving dishes and silverware. Running your garbage disposal while your dishwasher is running can mean food waste can end up in your wash cycle.

It’s also important to realise that if you are experiencing a garbage disposal issue—like a blockage—it’s important not to run your dishwasher. Doing so can create flooding.

6. Keep Wet Wipes Out of the Toilet

If you provide wet wipes for your guests in the bathroom, make sure that they know that they should be thrown away—not flushed. Toilet paper is specifically designed to dissolve in water so that it is unlikely to cause a clog. Other items… are not.

A few other things that shouldn’t be flushed:

• Cotton balls

• Q-tips

• Napkins or facial tissue (kleenex)

• Feminine products

• Paper towels

• Facial cleansing/makeup remover wipes

7. Cut Down on Shower Time

If you’re having guests stay over Thanksgiving weekend, try to be mindful who’s showering when and for how long. Few things tax water pressure and plumbing in your house, so if there are multiple showers occurring at once—or showers occurring while you’re trying to do other water-dependent tasks like dishwashing--it could mean a shortage of hot water.