How Hosting Guests Impacts Your Plumbing

February 27, 2020

Entertaining in your home represents a great opportunity to bond with friends or family. Closer proximity means more chances to play, eat, and chat with each other. Unfortunately, having more people in your home, even for a short time, may negatively impact your plumbing. Here’s how.

High-Volume Use

The more people are in your home, you’ll have more dishes to wash, meals to make, and bodies to clean. Your family members understand the rules about your delicate plumbing, but your guests may not.

Problems

This increased use can strain your plumbing, especially your toilet. More flushes provide more opportunities for the toilet to clog, especially if you have an older model. Your toilet may overflow, clog, or run.

Prevention

Preparation provides the best way to avoid this problem. Check your flapper before your guests arrive (it’s the rubber device located at the bottom of the toilet tank). Over time, flappers corrode and become less effective. If your flapper looks deteriorated, have a plumber replace it.

It’s also a good idea to have your plumber snake or hydro-jet the toilet before your guests arrive. This can prevent clogs and resolve any preexisting issues.

Instruct your guests to only flush toilet paper and waste since other materials represent the largest clog culprits.

Increased Water Use

Not only does more use strain your appliances, it also strains your hot water heater.

Problems

Heater strain means less hot water for showers, dishes, and cooking. This can represent a huge inconvenience, especially if you’re entertaining during a holiday season. The strain can even damage your heater over time if it’s not properly handled.

Prevention

To keep the water hot enough for everyone in your home, create a shower schedule. Let the shower rest at least 10 minutes between each use. You can also adjust the water heater temperature to counterbalance the higher demand. Never raise the temperature over 49°C or 120°F. This increases the danger of scalding.

To improve the heater’s performance, have it inspected by a plumber. Over time, many water heaters have sediment build up inside it. A plumber can drain and flush out the sediment to ensure the heater continues working properly.

More Debris in Drains

All of the drains in your home are called on to funnel out more water when you have guests. This also means more debris washes down your drains. Problems

Debris builds up in the pipes below drains, creating clogs and occasionally backflow into your shower and sinks.

Prevention

Have a plumber clean your drains regularly. Call one in right before your guests arrive. Then ensure the drains stay clear by taking the following steps:

Cover the drain with a strainer. Manufacturers make strainers specifically designed for kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, and bathtub or shower drains.
Clean the drains after your guests use them, especially after showers. This prevents sneaky debris like long hairs from gumming up your drains.
Place a trashcan in the bathroom. When guests don’t find a trashcan, they may feel more tempted to flush waste down the toilet. This includes cotton balls, feminine hygiene products, face wipes, and other substances that don’t break down properly once flushed.
Set up guidelines about what comes into contact with your drains. Never put fatty, hard, stringy, or starchy foods into your garbage disposal. Fat solidifies in the pipes, creating blockages. Other difficult foods can impede the processing blades or even break the disposal.

Address any specific concerns you have with a trusted plumber.

You don’t have to wait until your guests are on your doorstep to protect your plumbing. Routine maintenance and annual inspections catch and resolve problems early on. This ensures your plumbing remains functional, even with a little extra stain.

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