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Did you know that the holiday season is the busiest time of the year for plumbers? This makes sense as appliances and water are used the most during the holiday season, let it be because of the multiple amounts of guests you will have, the kids being out of school or the many dishes you'll be cooking. Some items will be used more than usual and you need to be sure they're up to the challenge. Below are 5 holiday plumbing tips that will help you navigate this busy season. 1. Schedule A Plumbing Inspection Expecting guests this holiday season? Let us help you ensure your fixtures are ready for extra use with a home plumbing inspection. This will help you avoid any major problems that could arise over the holiday. 2. Respect Your Garbage Disposal You'll be tempted to throw away left overs, oil, potatoes, and other items into the garbage disposal. Don't do it. These things can clog garbage disposal and/or deteriorate your garbage disposal blades. Avoid throwing poultry bones and skin, fruit or vegetable peels, and cornhusks into the disposal. Should you find yourself in a bind, remember that Metro-Flow Plumbing is open 24/7. You may reach us at 214-328-7371. 3. Keep Oils Away From Your Drains Avoid pouring fats, oils and grease down your drains this holiday season - and all through the year. When oils and grease substances go down the drain, they harden, causing your sewer pipes to clog, which can turn into a pricey plumbing problem. 4. Only Cold Water Allowed Run plenty of cold water while you’re grinding your food down the garbage disposal, and run it for 30-60 seconds after the garbage disposal is off. Cold, running water pushes waste down the drain. Avoid using hot water to melt grease because it can solidify and clog your drains, possibly turning into a plumbing problem. 5. Be Nice To Your Toilets With the additional guests in your home, your toilets will be working overtime. Advise your family and friends not to flush cotton balls, swabs, feminine products, hair or facial scrub pads down the toilet. These items won’t dissolve and will cause clogs. Keep it toilet friendly by only flushing toilet paper down the toilet. Remember that if you need help with a plumbing issue or want to schedule a plumbing inspection, Metro-Flow Plumbing is open 24/7 and can help you. You may reach us at 214-328-7371. One of our certified and insured plumbers will assist you. 
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There are many tips out there on how to get your house ready for guests, especially now during the holiday season. Most of them will remind you to clean the bathroom, fluff your bedroom and living room pillows, and even make sure that your doorbell is working. However, many of these you already knew. Here are a couple that will help make your house a home for your guests. Get ready to be crowned, "Hostess with the Mostest". 1. Bake Cookies We are not telling you to make cookies from scratch. In fact, we are encouraging you to go buy some chocolate chip cookies from the grocery store, open up the packaging, and place them in a cookie sheet. Stick them in the oven 30min before your guests are scheduled to arrive and get nothing but compliments from the moment they step into your house. It will immediately give them a sense of belonging and a feeling of being home. We love Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookies and for $2.73, they're even cheaper that a scented candle. 2. Buy New Bedsheets Help make your guests feel like they're staying at a 5-star hotel by purchasing new bedsheets and using them for the first time on them. We recently purchased and tried some sold on Amazon. Got King size bedsheets for only $23.99 and they have them in a variety of colors and sizes. Check them out here. You'll have your guests asking you about them... At least ours did. Freshly washed towels will also be welcomed and appreciated. 3. Invest In Coffee Imagine being away from home and waking up tired. You're not home so you don't want to intrude. However, your guests could wake up to freshly made coffee. If you have one of the fancy coffee makers with a timer, you won't even need to wake up to give them this bed and breakfast experience, your machine could do it for you. Regardless, good coffee first thing in the morning is always appreciated. 4. Scented Dryer Sheets Before you move forward with this one, make sure no one has allergies to perfumes or strong smells. Once you're in the clear, grab these scented sheets and place a couple of them in drawers and closets. Imagine opening that closet and being welcomed by the smell of fresh linens. 5. Toiletries Welcome Basket This is will definitely earn you the crown for, "Hostess with the Mostest". Let your guests know ahead of time that they won't need to pack their basic toiletries as you will have a welcome basket ready for them. This way, they won't pack them in their luggage, saving them space to maybe bring their favorite slippers. Things like a brand new toothbrush, toothpaste, a blow dryer, travel size hair products, and a full size bottle of shampoo and conditioners are at the top of the list, but don't forget the one culprit that we all mostly fail to pack... razors. Happy hosting! Remember that if you need help with a plumbing issue or want to schedule a plumbing inspection, Metro-Flow Plumbing is open 24/7 and can help you. You may reach us at 214-328-7371. One of our certified and insured plumbers will assist you.  As Ned Stark would say, "Winter is coming." We've been waking up with as low as 30 degrees and is soon to drop even more. Don't let our Dallas weather fool you, freezing temperates (32 degrees and lower) can come and stay for a few days, which would hurt your house if you're not prepared for them. Below you'll find 10 steps to prep your house for winter. 1. Tune Up Your Heating System The last thing you want to happen is to wake up in the middle of the night because the temperature dropped, you're cold, and discover that your heating system is not working. A quick call to get your heating system checked - including measuring for a carbon monoxide leakage - should run you around $100 depending on the company used. Remember to look for a heating and air-conditioning contractor that belongs to the Air Conditioning Contractors of America and employs technicians certified by the North American Technician Excellence (NATE) program. The contractor should follow the protocol for the ACCAs "national standard for residential maintenance" (or the QM, short for "quality maintenance"). 2. Reverse Your Ceiling Fans This is a fun trick not many are aware of that Kiplinger shared a couple of years ago. If your ceiling fan has a reverse switch, use it to run the fan's blades in a clockwise direction after you turn on your heat. Energy Star says the fan will produce an updraft and push down into the room heated air from the ceiling (remember, hot air rises). This is especially helpful in rooms with high ceilings -- and it might even allow you to turn down your thermostat by a degree or two for greater energy savings. 3. Check Your Roof Look for damaged, loose or missing shingles on your roof. A leak any time of the year is a bother, but when it happens while it's cold outside, it can be miserable. Contact a professional roofer and have them inspect your roof in detail, this will help you avoid any possible further damage to the roof or an unfortunate accident. 4. Check For Air Leaks Around Your Windows And Door Frames You heard right. These are the silent culprits that can have us paying more on our electrical bills. It may not seem like a big deal, but having a crack - or multiple of them - around a window or door frame can impact your electrical bill during the summer months - and winter months, when your air conditioning is working to keep you warm. If gaps between siding and window or door frames are bigger than the width of a nickel, you need to reapply exterior caulk. Check the joints in window and door frames, too. Silicone caulk is best for exterior use because it won’t shrink and it is impervious to the elements. 5. Clean The Gutters You've been hearing this all your life. Remove all dry leafs and debris from your home gutters to avoid a clog, which can potentially turn into a bigger problem. Do it now, while the weather is still nice. You want to avoid a clog from happening that may later freeze when the temperature drops. This will help prevent a plumbing problem. 6. Turn Off Your Exterior Faucets Visit your exterior faucets one by one, open them and let the water run for a bit. Then close them well and make sure you don't have a leaking faucet. Undrained water in pipes can freeze, which will cause pipes to burst as the ice expands. Start by disconnecting all garden hoses and draining the water that remains in faucets. If you don’t have frost-proof faucets (homes more than ten to 15 years old typically do not), turn off the shut-off valve inside your home. If you aren't sure if you do or if you would like to make sure your home's water system is ready for winter, give us a call at 214-328-7371 and we'll be happy to perform a home inspection for you. Remember to always hire certified plumbers that have your best interest at heart and are available 24/7, even during the busiest time of the year. 7. Drain Your Lawn Irrigation System Call in a professional to do the job. Your sprinkler service charge will vary depending on the size of the lawn irrigation system. Draining sprinkler-system pipes, as with spigots, will help avoid freezing and leaks, which will prevent potential plumbing headaches down the road. 8. Inspect Your Chimney Before Turning It On Before you're tempted to turn on your fireplace and snuggle up beside it with a hot cup of cocoa on a cold winter night, make sure your fireplace (or any heating appliance burning gas, oil, wood or coal), chimney and vents are clean and in good repair. This will prevent chimney fires and prevent carbon monoxide from creeping into your home, which can be deadly. Search for a sweep certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America. 9. Check Your Drainage Make sure the soil around your foundation hasn’t settled, creating areas for water to pool at your foundation. If you find a low spot, simply fill it in with some soil. Then go around and check your rain gutter downspouts. Make sure water is getting moved away from the home. Add downspout extenders if necessary. Saturated soil around a foundation can create real problems as it freezes and thaws throughout the winter months. 10. Cover Your Outdoor Furniture Protect your patio furniture, but make sure you wait until a clear, warm day to cover it so you don’t trap moisture on it, this will prevent mold from forming, which could permanently damage your patio furniture. Remember that if you need help with a plumbing issue or want to schedule a plumbing inspection, Metro-Flow Plumbing is open 24/7 and can help you. You may reach us at 214-328-7371. One of our certified and insured plumbers will assist you.  |
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