St. Louis, MO (KMOX) - The day after Thanksgiving is often one of the busiest days of the year for plumbers. That's partly because people put more things down the sink and garbage disposal than they should.
John Schupp, Plumbing Field Manager with Hoffman Brothers tells KMOX that in many cases people's pipes are already starting to have problems. "With a lot of older plumbing and new plumbing, sometimes you have these underlying issues and these partial blockages in the lines and then you have these parties and it's enough to clog it up all the way."
Some of the big culprits, grease, potato peels, celery, and broccoli.
Schupp adds chemical drain openers can actually make the blockage harder to clear for the professionals.
Another issue is sewers. "There's a term of 'Brown Friday' after Thanksgiving where you experience a lot of sewer backups from a lot of company coming over," explains Schupp. He says that's when his company gets called for sewage backing up into the basement. Schupp recommends, if you know you're having big gatherings for the holidays get someone out to look at your system first. "Get a camera in your sewer line at least once a year or at least at point where you know what condition your sewer is in so you know if you can expect to have issues or know to get it cleaned out prior to the holidays."
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