A lot goes into the process of purchasing and moving into a new home. There are papers to sign, boxes to pack and unpack, stuff to organize… and about a million other to-dos. With all that going on, it’s all-too-easy to forget to learn to actually take care of your new home.
There’s a lot to learn when it comes to proper home ownership. Some stuff you probably already know how to do, and some stuff will be brand new. For example: If you’ve never owned a home, you probably don’t have much experience taking care of home plumbing. Properly maintaining your home’s plumbing is a crucial part of keeping your home livable–trust us. Start with your drains. Here’s a comprehensive drain maintenance checklist. Just follow these steps, and you won’t have to worry about clogging your new home’s drains.
Know what not to flush down the drain.
Knowledge is your best defense when it comes to maintaining the health of the drains in your home. Some of the best information we have to offer is which things you should never flush down any drain. First things first: grease, fats, or oils are the #1 causes of drain clogs. They’re liquid when warm and turn solid as they cool–inside your pipes!
You also don’t want to put medications, toxic chemicals, paper towels, cotton balls, or wipes down the drain. Each of these materials will either a.) cause a clog or b.) release hazardous materials into the water supply. You don’t want either of those things to happen, so keep these things out of your drains.
Regularly flush your drains.
You should regularly flush your drains out with hot water. Hot flush flushing is especially important for kitchen sinks, but it’s great for all drains. One per week, put a large pot of water on the stove and heat it until it’s almost (but not quite) boiling.
Once it’s ready, pour the hot water down various household drains. Repeat the process again and then run all the taps with cold water. The hot water cleans trapped material and loosens grease. The cool water washes away the materials the hot water loosened up. The final result is a new, clean drain.
Never invest in chemical drain cleaners.
Chemical drain cleaners are capable of clearing clogs. They use chemical reactions to clear away the gunk that builds up inside pipes. The problem with chemical drain cleaners is they can’t tell the difference between a clog and the pipes themselves.
Don’t start your time at a new home by eating away at your pipes. Instead, look into DIY or professional cleaning solutions.
Keep up with regular DIY drain cleaning practices.
There are all kinds of easy and reliable DIY ways to clean out your drains. Here’s one: pour a half-cup of baking soda and a quarter cup of table salt down your drain. Then, pour a cup of warm vinegar down the drain to follow it. Let the mixture sit for fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes, let hot tap water through the drain for a minute. This will freshen your drains and help maintain their well-being. However you decide to clean your drains, make sure you clean them regularly.
Invest in the occasional professional cleaning.
A professional drain cleaning is important for anyone who wants to make sure that their drains don’t have major problems down the line. It’s far less expensive to pay for a yearly professional drain cleaning than it is to deal with a burst pipe.
After you’ve settled in, keep the number of your local emergency plumbing company in an easily-found place. If you need any advice, check out the pros at Ben Franklin Plumbing. We’re happy to help you keep your new home healthy and safe.