The holiday season brings joy, celebration, and houseguests, but it also puts additional stress on your home’s plumbing system. Between extra showers, holiday cooking marathons, and visiting relatives, your plumbing works overtime during November and December. The last thing you want is a clogged drain, backed-up sewer line, or cold shower when your house is full of guests.
Taking proactive steps now can prevent plumbing emergencies that could derail your holiday plans. This comprehensive guide will walk you through essential plumbing maintenance tasks to ensure your home is ready for the increased demands of the holiday season.
The Importance Of Holiday Plumbing Preparation
During the holidays, your home’s plumbing system faces significantly increased usage. More people means more toilet flushes, longer showers, additional loads of laundry, and kitchen sinks working overtime. In 34 years of plumbing in the Flathead Valley, we’re used to seeing service calls spike from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.
The good news? Most holiday plumbing disasters are completely preventable with simple preparation and maintenance.
Inspect and Maintain Your Water Heater
Your water heater is one of the hardest-working appliances during the holidays, and running out of hot water with a house full of guests is a nightmare scenario.
Check Your Water Heater’s Capacity
If you’re expecting guests, ask whether your water heater can keep up with the extra demand. See how to measure your hot water usage. If your current system seems undersized for your holiday guest list, consider upgrading to a larger tank or switching to a tankless water heater that provides endless hot water on demand.
Flush Your Water Heater Tank
Sediment buildup reduces your water heater’s efficiency and capacity. Rheem suggests draining a few quarts from the tank’s drain valve every month to clear sediment. If you haven’t flushed your tank in over a year, have a plumber do a complete flush and inspection. See why water heaters leak or burst.
Test the Temperature and Pressure Relief Valve
The TPR valve is a critical safety component that prevents dangerous pressure buildup. Lift the valve’s lever slightly to ensure water flows freely and stops when released. If water continues dripping or doesn’t flow at all, the valve needs replacement before the holidays.
Adjust Water Temperature Settings
Set your water heater thermostat to 120°F (49°C). The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends 120°F to help prevent scalding, which is especially important with children visiting. See what temperature to set your water heater.
Keep the Area Around the Water Heater Clear
Keep flammable and combustible materials away from the water heater and furnace. Install a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector near both.
Protect Your Drains from Holiday Abuse
Kitchen and bathroom drains can be overtaxed during the holidays, from cooking grease to increased hair and soap accumulation.
Kitchen Drain Preparation
The kitchen sink handles large amounts of food waste during holiday meal preparation. Never pour cooking grease, oil, or fat down your drain, these substances solidify in pipes and create stubborn clogs. Instead, collect grease in a container and dispose of it in the trash once cooled.
Install or clean mesh drain strainers to catch food particles, coffee grounds, and other debris that can accumulate and cause clogs. Even small amounts of potato peels, pasta, rice, or flour can expand in pipes and create blockages.
After using the garbage disposal, run cold water to clear the drain. Consider using a safe and natural drain cleaner like Bio-Clean® to keep your drains clean and fresh.
Bathroom Drain Maintenance
With extra guests showering, bathroom drains accumulate hair and soap scum faster than usual. Remove and clean pop-up stoppers in bathroom sinks and tub drains. These mechanisms trap hair and debris, and cleaning them takes just minutes but prevents slow drains.
Place hair catchers in all shower and tub drains to minimize buildup. These inexpensive devices catch hair before it enters your plumbing system, preventing one of the most common causes of bathroom drain clogs.
Avoid Chemical Drain Cleaners
While it’s tempting to use chemical drain cleaners as a quick fix, these products can damage pipes, especially older plumbing systems. The harsh chemicals can corrode pipe walls and create more problems than they solve. If you’re experiencing slow drains, try a plunger first. If that fails, it’s time to call a plumber for help.
Ensure Your Sewer Line Is Clear
A backed-up sewer line during the holidays is every homeowner’s worst nightmare. The increased water usage and toilet flushing during gatherings can quickly overwhelm a compromised sewer line.
Warning Signs of Sewer Line Problems
Schedule a professional inspection if you notice multiple drains backing up simultaneously, gurgling sounds from toilets or drains, sewage odors in your home, or water backing up in unusual places like the bathtub when you flush the toilet. These symptoms indicate a main sewer line issue that requires immediate attention.
Tree Root Prevention
In the Flathead Valley and Montana, tree roots are a common cause of sewer line problems, particularly in older homes. Roots naturally seek water sources and can infiltrate even small cracks in sewer pipes. If you have large trees near your sewer line, consider a professional camera inspection to check for root intrusion before the holidays.
Schedule a Sewer Line Inspection
Central Heating Cooling Plumbing Electrical’s professional plumbers can perform a video camera inspection of your sewer line to identify potential problems before they become emergencies. This preventive service is especially valuable in an older home or if you’ve had sewer issues in the past.
Prepare Your Garbage Disposal
Holiday cooking generates significant food waste, and your garbage disposal will see heavy action. Ensure it’s operating properly before the season begins.
Clean Your Garbage Disposal
Run diluted liquid dish soap through the disposal to clear out food buildup. Citrus peels help eliminate odors. Run cold water before and after using the disposal to ensure waste is fully flushed through your pipes.
Know What Never Goes in the Disposal
Never put these items in your garbage disposal: potato peels (they create a starchy paste), celery and fibrous vegetables, coffee grounds (they accumulate in pipes), eggshells , bones, fruit pits, pasta, rice, or grease. When in doubt, throw it out: in the trash, not the disposal.
Test Disposal Performance
Run your disposal with cold water and listen for unusual sounds. Grinding or rattling noises may indicate a foreign object is stuck inside. If the disposal hums but doesn’t spin, it’s jammed and needs attention before the holidays.
Check All Toilets for Potential Issues
With extra guests, your toilets will flush more frequently than usual. A toilet that’s working marginally now may fail completely under holiday stress.
Test Toilet Flush Performance
Flush each toilet and observe the water flow. Strong, complete flushes indicate good performance. Weak flushes, multiple flush requirements, or slow bowl drainage suggest problems that need addressing before guests arrive.
Inspect Toilet Components
Remove tank lids and check internal components. The flapper should seal completely when the tank refills. A worn flapper allows water to leak continuously into the bowl and reduces flush power. According to the EPA’s WaterSense program, a worn flapper can silently leak thousands of gallons a year.
Examine the fill valve and make sure it shuts off completely when the tank is full. A constantly running toilet wastes water and needs to be fixed.
Tighten Loose Toilet Connections
Check for water around the toilet base, loose bolts, or rocking movement. Tighten mounting bolts carefully, over-tightening can crack the porcelain, but loose toilets can damage the wax ring seal and cause leaks.
Stock Extra Supplies
Place extra toilet paper, a plunger, and a wastebasket in each bathroom. Brief guests on what shouldn’t be flushed (paper towels, feminine products, wipes (even “flushable” ones) and excessive toilet paper). A small sign in guest bathrooms can politely remind visitors of these guidelines.
Inspect Exposed Pipes and Fix Leaks
The holiday season is the perfect time to address those small leaks you’ve been ignoring. Under increased usage, minor leaks can become major problems.
Check Under Sinks
Inspect the area under every sink in your home for signs of moisture, water stains, or active drips. Even small leaks can damage cabinets and create mold growth. Tighten connections and replace worn washers or corroded supply lines.
Examine Exposed Pipes
In basements, crawl spaces, and utility rooms, look for corrosion, mineral deposits, or water stains on pipes. These signs indicate leaks or deteriorating pipes that may fail during peak usage.
Test All Faucets
Turn on every faucet in your home and check for drips, irregular flow, or strange noises. Replace worn washers or cartridges in dripping faucets. According to the EPA, a faucet that drips once per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons a year.
Prepare for Winter Plumbing Challenges
In Montana’s cold climate, frozen pipes pose a significant risk during the holiday season, particularly if you’re traveling or hosting guests who may not be familiar with cold-weather plumbing precautions.
Insulate Vulnerable Pipes
Wrap foam pipe insulation around pipes in unheated areas like garages, crawl spaces, and exterior walls. Pay special attention to pipes near outside walls or in cabinets adjacent to exterior walls. Pipe insulation is inexpensive and can prevent costly freeze damage.
Disconnect Outdoor Hoses
Remove all garden hoses from outdoor faucets and drain them completely. A frozen hose can cause water to back up into your home’s pipes and freeze, leading to burst pipes and significant water damage. Store hoses in a garage or shed for the winter.
Shut Off and Drain Exterior Faucets
If you have shut-off valves for exterior faucets inside your home, close them and open the outside faucets to drain remaining water. This prevents water from freezing in the pipes and causing cracks.
Maintain Consistent Indoor Temperature
If you’ll be away in cold weather, leave the heat set no lower than 55°F, as the American Red Cross recommends. Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls to let warm air reach the pipes. When it’s very cold outside, let cold water drip from faucets served by exposed pipes.
Inform Guests About Your Plumbing System
Good communication with guests can prevent many plumbing problems during the holidays.
Share Important Information
Let guests know where the main water shut-off valve is located in case of emergency. Explain any quirks your plumbing system may have, such as toilets that need a moment between flushes or showers that take time to reach optimal temperature.
Shut-off valves can cut water to a single fixture, one area of the home or the whole house. If the problem is at one sink or toilet, closing that fixture’s valve can let you wait for a visit during normal business hours, which costs less.
Set Expectations for Water Usage
If you have an older or smaller water heater, politely ask guests to space out showers so the tank has time to recover. Most people are understanding when you explain the situation in advance.
Provide Disposal Guidelines
Place a small note card near the kitchen sink listing what shouldn’t go down the drain or garbage disposal. Frame it as helpful information rather than restrictive rules.
When to Call a Professional Plumber
While many preventive maintenance tasks are DIY-friendly, some situations require professional expertise, especially before the holidays when time is critical and mistakes can be costly.
Schedule Professional Service for These Issues
Water heater problems: If your water heater is getting older, makes unusual noises, produces discolored water, or can’t keep up with your household’s hot water demands, have a professional inspect it before the holidays. Water heater failures during the holidays often require emergency service at premium rates, preventive inspection is far more economical.
Persistent slow drains: If multiple drains throughout your home are slow or if DIY methods don’t resolve the problem, you likely have a main line issue that requires professional diagnosis and treatment. Professional plumbers have specialized equipment like motorized drain snakes and hydro-jetting systems that can clear stubborn clogs safely.
Sewer line concerns: Any signs of main sewer line problems, multiple fixtures backing up, sewage odors, or water backing up into unusual locations, require immediate professional attention. Sewer line repairs are complex and should only be performed by licensed professionals.
Low water pressure: Sudden drops in water pressure throughout your home can indicate serious problems like hidden leaks, corroded pipes, or issues with your main water line. These problems worsen under increased holiday usage and should be diagnosed professionally.
Gas line concerns: Any work on gas lines, tankless water heater installation or gas appliance repair should be done by licensed professionals. Gas line work is dangerous.
Frozen pipe prevention: If you have pipes that have frozen in previous winters or areas of concern, have a professional plumber assess and properly insulate vulnerable sections before winter sets in.
Preventive maintenance and inspection: If your home is older and you haven’t had a comprehensive plumbing inspection recently, scheduling one before the holidays provides peace of mind. Professional plumbers can identify potential problems before they become emergencies.
Benefits of Pre-Holiday Professional Service
Scheduling plumbing service now, before the holiday rush, ensures you’ll get convenient appointment times and avoid emergency service fees. Professional plumbers can complete comprehensive inspections, identify problems you might miss, and make repairs when it’s convenient rather than when it’s critical. Regular inspections catch small problems before they turn into emergencies.
Emergency Plumbing Service
Even with thorough preparation, plumbing emergencies can occur. Keep Central Heating Cooling Plumbing Electrical’s number, 406-756-6656, where family members and guests can find it. Know the location of your main water shut-off valve and how to operate it, shutting off water quickly can minimize damage during a plumbing emergency.
Final Holiday Plumbing Checklist
Use this comprehensive checklist to ensure your home’s plumbing system is holiday-ready:
Water Heater: Flush sediment from tank, test TPR valve, adjust temperature to 120°F, inspect for leaks and corrosion
Drains: Clean all drain stoppers and strainers, test drainage in all sinks and tubs, avoid chemical drain cleaners, install hair catchers in bathroom drains
Garbage Disposal: Clean with dish soap and citrus, test performance, review what shouldn’t go in disposal
Toilets: Test flush performance on all toilets, inspect tank components, tighten loose connections, stock extra supplies in bathrooms
Sewer Line: Watch for warning signs of problems, schedule professional inspection if concerned
Pipes and Fixtures: Check under all sinks for leaks, test all faucets, inspect exposed pipes for damage
Winter Preparation: Insulate vulnerable pipes, disconnect and drain outdoor hoses, shut off exterior faucets
Guest Preparation: Show guests where the main shut-off valve is located, explain plumbing system quirks, provide disposal and drainage guidelines
Enjoy a Stress-Free Holiday Season
Taking time now to prepare your home’s plumbing system for the holiday season is an investment in peace of mind. These preventive measures take just a few hours but can save you from expensive emergency repairs, uncomfortable situations with guests, and holiday stress. A well-maintained plumbing system can handle the increased demands of the season, allowing you to focus on what really matters: spending quality time with family and friends.
For homeowners in Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Bigfork, Polson, Lakeside, Somers, and throughout the Flathead Valley, Central Heating Cooling Plumbing Electrical is here to help you prepare your home for the holidays. Our experienced plumbers can perform comprehensive inspections, maintenance, and repairs to ensure your plumbing system is ready for whatever the season brings. Don’t wait until you have an emergency. Schedule your pre-holiday plumbing inspection today and enjoy the holidays with confidence.
With proper preparation and maintenance, your home’s plumbing system will be ready for the holiday season. Start your holiday preparations today, and give yourself the gift of worry-free entertaining all season long.
