Plumbing issues over the holidays

That special time of the year finally arrived, when you can enjoy some great food, good laughs and a couple of drinks with your friends and family. All of a sudden, your 2 bedroom flat is filled with people and there’s not enough room to stretch your arms properly. There’s always a queue in front of the bathroom and the water and the heat systems are being maxed out. That’s all quite normal, but what about the capacity of your plumbing to cope with all the commotion? Most of the plumbing systems in the UK are pretty old and have issues quite often, so it’s no wonder that they might break during the holidays, when they’re used at 300% of their capacity.

Another problem you might have during the holidays is that plumbers, boiler repair engineers and other professionals are more difficult to find. They’re either closed for the holidays or are already booked by people in a similar situation. Just to be on the safe side, you should contact a plumbing company or gas engineers active in your area and arrange with them some sort of contingency plan. Also, make sure to negotiate a good deal with them; you’ll probably have to pay extra for the repairs during Christmas or Easter, but stand your ground and don’t accept for a deal that will dry up your holiday budget.

Back to the issues concerning your plumbing during the holidays, there are many things that might go wrong, but with a little attention and planning, you might just avoid them yourself. For example, if your septic alarm goes off, don’t panic too much. This usually happens because the system took in too much water in a short period of time. This is more of a warning than a full-fledged problem, really, so shutting the system for a little will most likely fix the issue. Another common issue is the sink drain getting jammed and backs up. This happens because you washed many plates in a short period of time and residue gathered in there faster than the system can deal with them. Fixing this is as easy as thoroughly cleaning the small trap under the sink or cleaning it with a plunger. If the problem persists, you should call a professional, as the issue is probably somewhere deeper in the system and tampering with it could be a little risky.

Ah, of course, the loo backing up. This can be quite bothersome and downright gruesome, especially if you have guests. This can be solved with a plunger as well, but in many cases you’ll have to take the toilet out and clean the pipe from whatever it’s blocking it. One of the most “aggressed” items in your household during the hectic holiday season is the garbage disposal, but there are a couple of neat tricks you can use in order to not get into a corner. Use cold water when turning the disposal to full power and turn on the tap before and after using the disposal. This will clean any leftovers and will solve small system issues that might occur. Ideally, you should throw small pieces of waste into the disposal, as larger pieces might block it severely.

Also, don’t use very corrosive chemicals to clean it, as this might destroy the mechanical parts of the system. Also, if the disposal smells badly, don’t use chemicals- a lemon or orange, which have acid, will “chew” the bacteria causing the bad smells. When it comes to central heating repairs, don\'t try to be a hero, as these are very sensitive devices, which should be repaired only by professionals.

boiler repair, plumbers solihull