Your drains impact the overall health of your home, yet it’s likely that you rarely stop to think about them unless something is wrong.
“Most plumbing problems are totally preventable,” says Tommy Webber, owner of T.Webber Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric. “Knowing what to do and, most importantly, what not to do can really alleviate a lot of stress and save both time and money.”
Below, T.Webber offers the following best practices with regard to drain maintenance.
Do minimize the amount of food that gets washed down the kitchen sink. A few leftover crumbs here and there are bound to end up going down the kitchen sink when you rinse your dishes after eating. As much as possible though, try to scrape all of the food you can out into a garbage container before rinsing your plate.
Do regularly apply natural cleaners to your drains. It’s best not to regularly use harsh, chemical cleaners on your drains. However, maintaining a routine dose of a natural, biological treatment to clean out your pipes will help improve the performance of your entire drain system.
Don’t pour grease down a drain. Instead of disposing of grease by pouring it down a drain, allow it to cool and solidify and then dispose of it with other solids. Hot grease may begin to run down the drain, but as it cools it will begin to build up in the pipes, catch other debris and form clogs.
Don’t force fibrous fruits and vegetables through your garbage disposal. Foods like uncooked carrots, potato peels, broccoli stalks, corn, asparagus and other fibrous fruits and vegetables are best disposed of in a compost pile outside or in the trash. If they go down your garbage disposal, they could entangle and damage the unit.
Don’t let hair go down your bathroom drains. Whether it’s the shower or the sink, letting hair slip down the drains will cause clogs over time. Consider placing strainers over bathroom drains to catch any loose hairs. This way, you can dispose of them in the trash can instead of losing them in your piping.
Source: T.Webber Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric
