As Canadian comedian Red Green says, “If women don’t find you handsome, make sure they find you handy.” Being a skilled “do it yourself” person is great. Yet as we all know, there are right ways and wrong ways. Your friends at Sinclair want you to do it the right way to avoid big problems now and later.
Here’s some “Don’t do’s” when it comes to your plumbing system.
DON’T put everything down your garbage disposal. Yes, your disposal will chew up whatever you put down it. Yet just like us, some things are easier to chew than others. Celery is not your disposal’s friend. Neither are onion skins or corn husks or anything with a lot of fiber. Put those in the waste basket, not down your sink.
Also, DON’T put your coffee grounds in your disposal. Instead, put them on your flower beds or plants. They will love them!
DON’T put wastebaskets under the sink. I know, it’s a handy place. The problem is waste baskets under the sink tend to get bumped and banged into the plumbing. Over time, or in one big bump, it can loosen or break the fittings. That will cause leaks.
DON’T pour hot water down your toilet. The thought is that hot water will help dissolve a clog faster. The problem is your toilet is made of porcelain and it’s not designed for hot water. Think about it this way: What would happen if in the middle of winter you poured boiling water on your outdoor glass patio table? It would shatter. The same can happen when you pour hot water down a cold porcelain toilet. It can cause the bowl to crack. When that happens, the only fix is a new toilet.
And while we’re talking about toilets…though many of us do it, we probably shouldn’t. DON’T put items on the lid of your toilet tank. They can get bumped off and fall into the toilet. You wouldn’t believe what plumbers have extracted from toilet tanks. Following the same line of thought, a shelf above the toilet probably isn’t the best place to display your collectable figurines. One hard slam of a door and the whole collection could take a high dive into the toilet.
DON’T pour grease down your sink. Though the grease goes down hot, when it cools it will congeal and solidify. Over time it will build up in your pipes and cause a clog.
To let you know that not all plumbing is “negative”, next week we’ll talk about the “do’s”.
Your friends at Sinclair want your water to flow freely. If you run up against a problem you can’t fix on your own, we’re here for you. Call us at 806-749-2665 !