Thanksgiving Keeps Plumbers Hopping

Day After Holiday is Busiest of the Year for Residential Plumbers

CINCINNATI, OH (Monday, November 14, 2005) - Plumbers have mixed emotions when it comes to Thanksgiving. The four-day weekend is anything but a holiday for plumbing and drain cleaning professionals who often sacrifice family time for a bigger paycheck. The annual Thanksgiving feast is responsible for so many kitchen sink and sewer line clogs that the day after Thanksgiving in the busiest day of the year for Roto-Rooter, the nations largest provider of plumbing and drain cleaning services.

Most Americans take part in holiday parties with eleven or more guests around both Thanksgiving and Christmas. These extra guests can overload home plumbing systems in a number of ways. Big holiday meals require a busy kitchen. That means lots of grease and food go down the kitchen drain and into the garbage disposer. Holiday guests mean extra showers, wash cycles and toilet flushes. "Usually, the house already has partially clogged drainpipes or problems that are hardly noticeable until the extra holiday guests arrive and overwhelm the system," said Paul Abrams, a spokesman for Roto-Rooter.

Roto-Rooter is fully prepared for the onslaught of extra work that "Black Friday" brings. Incoming calls will jump about 47% over an average Friday. The four-day Thanksgiving weekend represents a 21% increase above any other Thursday through Sunday period of the year. Added revenue for Roto-Rooter will approach a half-million dollars just for Friday. Only the day after Christmas comes close in terms of overall calls for service.

By taking precautions, hosts can avoid a visit from their plumber over the busy holiday weekend. Roto-Rooter recommends the following:

In the kitchen:


Never pour fats or cooking oils down drains. They solidify in pipes and cause clogs. Wipe grease from pots with paper towels and deposit in the trash.

Never place stringy, fibrous waste into the garbage disposer (poultry skins, celery, pumpkin pulp, fruit & potato peels). Your disposer can’t sufficiently grind these items.


Run cold water for 15 seconds before and after using the disposer to flush waste down the main sewer line.


Make sure disposer is running when you put food debris into it. Don’t wait until it’s full to turn on.

In the bathroom:


Plan ahead. Wait ten minutes between showers so slow drains will have time to do their job.


Turn up water heater to retain hot water. To avoid scalding, don’t exceed 125-degrees.


Provide a trash bin in bathrooms so toilets aren’t used as garbage cans.


Never flush swabs, cotton balls, hair or facial scrub pads down a toilet. They don’t dissolve and they’re responsible for most clogs.


Finally, if you’re already noticing slow drains before the holidays, use over-the-counter drain products to open drains before they get worse. If you need a plumber, call before the holidays and avoid delays and holiday service charges.

Roto-Rooter was established in 1935 and operates businesses in more than 100 company-owned territories and more than 500 franchise territories, serving approximately 91 percent of the U.S. population. Roto-Rooter offers prompt, professional service 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. For more information about Roto-Rooter and to see a selection of our current news releases and press photos, please visit our on-line pressroom at www.rotorooter.com

View all Roto-Rooter Press Releases

This article has been read 323 times.

Printer Friendly