Homeowners in Osprey are being advised to take simple precautions before Thanksgiving guests arrive, as the plumbing industry braces for its busiest day of the year. The day after Thanksgiving is known in plumbing circles as Brown Friday, and according to plumbing, sewer and drain service provider Roto-Rooter, it brings a 50% spike in service calls, making it the busiest day of the year for the plumbing industry, FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported last year. Roto-Rooter says it also sees a 21% boost in calls from Thursday through Sunday of the holiday weekend.
The surge matters for households because pipes and disposals are pushed to their limits with homes full of guests, extra showers and heavier kitchen use, according to Roto-Rooter. Greasy turkey drippings and food scraps are also causes of clogged drains, the company said. "Thanksgiving is a perfect storm for plumbing emergencies," Roto-Rooter spokesperson Paul Abrams said in a company release.
Grease is the most common problem in kitchen lines. Hot drippings may be liquid when they go down the sink, but fats and cooking oils solidify in pipes, according to Roto-Rooter. Stringy, fibrous and starchy food waste, such as poultry skin, celery and potato peels, can jam a garbage disposal or bind with that grease further down the line.
For Osprey households, the result can be a kitchen sink that will not drain on the busiest cooking day of the year, a disposal that hums but does not turn, or a toilet that backs up while the house is full. When several fixtures back up together, the cause is often the main sewer line rather than a single drain.
"The week of Thanksgiving is when a kitchen drain that has been slow for months finally stops," said Joshua Chastain, general manager of Bullseye Home Services. "Many homes here have family staying over, so one sink and one sewer line carry far more than usual. Scrape plates into the trash, keep grease out of the disposal, and if more than one fixture backs up at the same time, stop running water and call a plumber, because that usually points to the main line rather than one drain."
Bullseye Home Services, a plumbing, drain and sewer company with offices in Osprey and Fort Myers, handles kitchen drain clogs, garbage disposal problems and main sewer line backups for homeowners across Southwest Florida. The company holds Florida plumbing license CFC1431212. Homeowners can learn more about plumbing from Bullseye Home Services in Osprey, and further company information is available through Bullseye Home Services.
The company recommends letting grease and turkey drippings cool in a can or jar and putting them in the trash, never down the sink. It advises keeping stringy, fibrous or starchy waste such as poultry skin, celery, potato peels, rice and pasta out of the garbage disposal, and feeding the disposal small amounts at a time with cold water running, letting it run a few seconds after the food is gone. Households should also spread out showers and laundry loads while guests are staying to reduce strain on drains and the sewer line, keep a plunger in every guest bathroom and remind guests that only toilet paper should be flushed. If several drains gurgle or back up at once, the company says homeowners should stop using water and have the main sewer line checked.
