Things You Might Be Doing that Can Ruin Your Plumbing

If you’re trying to keep your home maintenance budget in check, avoiding plumbing problems is a good place to start. While the occasional clog will happen, avoiding unnecessary mistakes will save you time and money by preventing the need for emergency plumbing services. San Diego homeowners should be careful to avoid making these common mistakes.

Using the Kitchen Sink as a Garbage Disposal

From bacon grease to broccoli, people put any number of problematic items down their sink drains. Your kitchen sink’s drain is meant to handle liquids, not the remains of your family dinner. From drains clogged with swollen rice or pasta to septic systems damaged by coffee grounds, the effects on your plumbing system just aren’t worth the convenience of tossing solids and viscous liquids into the sink.

Throwing Anything & Everything into the Garbage Disposal

You might think your garbage disposal can handle anything you put in it. Although it makes easy work of obliterating most table scraps, your disposal wasn’t designed to get rid of everything in your fridge. Rice swells up and can ruin your plumbing. Potatoes and some vegetable peels can damage your pipes, and you’re better off tossing your eggshells in the trash. Even coffee grounds shouldn’t be thrown into the disposal, as they can clog pipes and spell disaster for septic systems.

Flushing Feminine Hygiene Products

You probably know not to put pads in the toilet, but did you know tampons can ruin your plumbing system? Although they’re supposed to be flushable, tampons don’t dissolve in water. For that reason, they can wreak havoc on plumbing when they get trapped in pipes. Prevent calls to the plumber by wrapping these items in toilet paper and throwing them in the bathroom trash.

Leaving Clogged Drains Untreated

All kinds of common household products can cause clogged drains. Some soaps, shower gels, and hair products can cause shower drain clogs. Despite their small size, cotton swabs have been known to clog more than a few toilets and bathroom sinks. Even those innocent-looking puffs of cotton used to remove makeup can spell trouble for your bathroom plumbing. Although the occasional use of Drano or another clog remover is fine, chronically slow or clogged drains indicate a plumbing problem. Untreated clogs cause long-term damage, so contact your plumber if they become a regular occurrence.

Flushing Kitty Litter Down the Toilet

It may seem logical to put the contents of your cat’s litter box in the toilet, but kitty litter often contains sand, clay, and other materials that spell disaster for pipes. Litter is designed to clump, making it one of the worst possible objects to subject your plumbing to. Place it in a garbage bag instead, and put it in a garbage can with a tight lid to avoid attracting pests and creating odors.

If you find yourself dealing with a plumbing problem in your home, don’t hesitate to call on Burke Contractors. We only contract with licensed and experienced plumbers to ensure our Southern California clients receive nothing less than high-quality service delivered with outstanding professionalism. When they need help with any kind of plumbing system, San Diego residents can rely on us to connect them with the finest professionals available. If you need reliable plumbing services, call us right away at 858-208-7765.