Nothing can take the merriment out of your holiday celebrations than having to deal with untimely plumbing mishaps. The holiday season creates an extra element of risk as temperatures can get much colder, creating the potential for frozen pipes.

The good news that simply taking a few minutes to do a little preventative maintenance, either before you hit the road for your holiday travels or before your holiday company arrives, can prevent a lot of plumbing problems from happening.

You Need a Working Sump Pump

You may not even think to maintain your sump pump, but rest assured that this is one piece of equipment that you need to be in tip-top shape. Make sure the area around the pump is free and clear of debris that would keep it from working properly. To test its functionality, pour a few buckets of water in the sump pit. If it’s working well, it should switch on automatically. If it doesn’t, get it fixed right away.

Mind the Thermostat

Although it is perfectly ok to turn down your thermostat if you are going to be away from your home for a period of time, never set it lower than 55°F. Any cooler will created potentially risky conditions for frozen pipes.

Double Check Faucets

After you’ve been on the road, it is recommended that you circulate through your home and check that water is flowing freely from all of your faucets.

If you should discover that there isn’t water coming out of any of them, you might be dealing with a water supply issue.

If a single one isn’t flowing, it could be the indication of pipe damage sustained from a frozen pipe. Get it looked at by your plumber.

Deal With Exterior Faucets

It is essential that hoses are removed from exterior faucets. You need to drain any remaining water. Any pooling water in hoses or faucets can freeze and then pose a threat of flooding inside your home. That’s why as an extra safety measure, turn the safety shut-off valve off inside, which will prevent water from entering that route.

Insulate Pipes with Foam

Pipes that are vulnerable to the cold are more susceptible to freezing. Prevent this from happening by wrapping them in simple, but effective foam insulation. Pay special attention to pipes that are installed in exterior walls and in areas of your home that are less insulated (like the basement, garage or crawl spaces). Leave cabinet doors open under sinks that are installed on outside walls.

Insulate the Water Heater with a Jacket

Part of keeping your pipes from freezing is making sure that you’ve got access to warm water all the time. Most new hot water tanks come insulated. If you have an older tank, or if you want to be extra energy efficient, invest in a water heater jacket.

For more help with your holiday plumbing preparations, call Peterson Plumbing today. Call (970) 399-7063 today for trustworthy service in Grand Junction, CO and the surrounding area.

Garbage Disposal Smelling Funky? Release the Odor with These Five Tips!

Do you have a garbage disposal in your kitchen sink? Are you noticing a smell that you just can’t get rid of? Is that odor growing to the point that you don’t like to be in your kitchen and your family members are beginning to complain? Are you wondering if your kitchen will ever return to normal? If you’ll be able to walk in without holding your nose?

If you are having garbage disposal odor issues, you certainly are not alone. Garbage disposal odor is a common problem for many homeowners across the country – and it has to do with the natural collection of different foods and materials in your garbage disposal.

The good news is that every garbage disposal can get that fresh smell once again with a few simple, inexpensive tricks. Best of all, the odors often can be addressed with natural home remedies. Continue reading our quick guide of the top five tips for getting rid of odor in your garbage disposal, and begin smelling freshness once again!

Tip #1: Release Odors with H20

Before you run out to the store to spend money you could save on a garbage disposal cleaner, try a few natural remedies that just might do the trick.

Sometimes food particles are caught in the disposal, and they just need a little loosening. To do this, run hot water down your drain for a few minutes while the disposal is on. Leave the kitchen for about 15 minutes and return to test the air with your nose.

Tip #2: Throw in a Few Cubes

Fill your disposal with ice cubes. Turn on the cool water and then the disposal. The crushing of the ice in the disposal acts with an abrasive force and helps to freeze food particles that are lingering in the disposal.

Continue this process for a few cycles. Leave the kitchen for about 15 minutes, and then return to take a whiff. If needed, you can repeat this process again.

Tip #3: Whip up a Kitchen Concoction

You also can try the home remedy of using baking soda and vinegar in your disposal. Measure about a half cup of baking soda, and dump it into your disposal. Follow with about a half cup of vinegar. Let your concoction sit in your garbage disposal for a few minutes, and then turn on the hot water to flush it away.

With these three natural home remedies for combating odor in your garbage disposal, you’re also naturally cleaning your disposal and protecting it from any corrosive commercial cleaners that may damage your disposal over time.

Tip #4: Don’t Underestimate the Power of Citrus

If water and ice aren’t doing the trick, you can deploy the power of citrus in your drain. Chop up a lemon or an orange into small chunks. It is Okay to leave the peel on these fruits, but the key is to chop the fruit into small chunks so your disposal does not get overwhelmed.

Turn on the water once again, as you never want to run your garbage disposal without the water running, and then drop the fruit chunks into the disposal, one piece a time until all of the pieces have been ground. If after you’ve tried these tips, you still have a smell lingering in your disposable, then you may want to consider a biodegradable disposal cleaner that is made for garbage disposals.

Never use drain cleaning products such as Drano in your garbage disposal. These products are made for drains, and the chemicals used in them may quickly corrode the garbage disposal’s parts.

Tip #5: Avoid Putting These Objects in Your Disposal

Sometimes education about your garbage disposal is everything. Some people don’t know that certain foods have a way of naturally clogging your garbage disposal and getting stuck. When enough of those food particles get caught in your disposal not only do you have a clogged disposal and likely clogged pipes connected to the disposal – but you all have trapped food particles that begin to rot and to smell.

Before you flush something down your disposal, think twice. Avoid foods such as potatoes, bananas, rice, pasta and beans. These foods have the tendency to expand when grounded up in a disposal, creating a clog that is difficult to overcome. Also, avoid stuffing into your disposal any kinds of fibrous foods – such as onion skins, celery, asparagus, corn husks, artichokes, lettuce, and carrots. These foods have a tendency to get wrapped around the blades of your disposal.

You also should avoid pouring grease, oils and fats into your disposal, as these liquids solidify and not only start to smell but will begin clogging your drains. Finally, egg shells and any non-food items are an absolute no-no. A garbage disposal is a powerful appliance –- but it’s not a landfill for your kitchen. Use wisdom and know what you can and cannot put down your disposal to avoid a clog and a resulting odor that fills your beautiful kitchen and makes it an unpleasant place to be.

Ready to take on those pesky odors in your kitchen? Remember these five top tips as you are working in your kitchen and trying to understand how your garbage disposal works and should be maintained over time.

With a little know-how and a few simple tricks, you’ll be able to keep your garbage disposal in working order and you’ll be able to keep your kitchen smelling fresh for weeks to come. The power is in your hands – literally – and you’ll feel great knowing you fixed the problem at hand. For the tougher plumbing issues, call in the experts to help you solve your garbage disposal problems.

Learn more about how the experts at Peterson Plumbing in Grand Junction, Colorado can help you with your plumbing issues by calling (970)-255-8430.

As the popularity of adult wipes grows by the day, so does the price of plumbing repairs across the country. Though adults consciously buy wipes labeled as flushable, the reality is that these wipes are anything but biodegradable.

Millions of dollars worth of sewer issues result in flushing these wipes. In fact, cities are fighting back by trying to pass bills that the wipe companies must label their products as harmful to pipes, drains, and sewers.

The wipe industry is a 13.2 billion dollar a year industry. These wipes were not only created as a means to clean yourself after using the bathroom, but are marketed as makeup removers, hand sanitizers, and household cleaners.

Wipes are part of an expensive business and the producers will stop at nothing to get you to buy their products.

These non-woven cloths get stuck in pipes and sewer machinery. The cost of toilet repair and drain cleaning has resulted in countless individuals suing the wipe industry. Cities have partaken in these lawsuits as well. Why do these wipes clog so many drains, though?

Why have people realized the problems with flushing baby wipes, but not by flushing adult wipes? There is a multitude of reasons as to why these products clog drains, why people are more inclined to flush these, and how DIY wet wipes are better solutions than the other marketed wipes.

Why Not Throw Them in the Trash?

People adapted to throwing baby wipes in the trash because of the warnings on the labels and simply because it is part of the parenting process. Though babies produce the same type of waste as adults, there is a taboo placed on adult waste. In fact, grown people are appalled at the thought of throwing their own wipes in the trash. Actually, adults rarely keep a pail for wipes in the bathroom.

Of course, all of the blame cannot be placed on the people who use these wipes. The products are marketed to be safe, and the wipe companies market their products as making people cleaner, healthier, and less inclined to contract illnesses. These false advertisements clearly result in huge consequences for the plumbing industry.

Why These Wipes Do Not Flush

It is no secret that when a piece of toilet paper becomes the least bit wet, it begins to break down. Regardless of toilet paper thickness, the product was designed to biodegrade simply because failure to breakdown would result in astronomical plumbing issues. Wipes, on the other hand, are entirely too thick to be thrown in a toilet.

The chemicals on wipes are designed to handle messier situations, but the same chemicals make the wipes less biodegradable. Yes, the wipes breakdown, but not quick enough to avoid clogs. Even if your household does not need a toilet repair or a drain cleaning, the sewer system of cities most certainly will as a result of flushing these products.

It is important to note that even toilet paper can clog a drain. If this specially designed product can do this, what are these wipes really doing?

Wipes are usually advertised as being very durable. The conclusion to be drawn from this, though, is that they are harder to break down. Of course, one cannot see into a drain by just flushing the toilet, so they are unaware of the growing problem and continue to flush. The clog grows bigger in size and collects anything else that gets flushed.

DIY Wet Wipes

Making your own wet wipes can be done in many ways and are far safer for the plumbing system in your house and in the city. The most common way to make this product is by taking a roll of toilet paper, and soaking them in a container of baby shampoo and baby oil. The regular thickness of toilet paper is present and results in fewer clogs as the product is easily biodegradable.

If you are making your own wet wipes for cleaning, swapping out the toilet paper for paper towels is okay. Soaking them in miscellaneous, natural cleaning fluids results in a safe cleaning product. It is still not recommended that these products are flushed, but the material of paper towels is more biodegradable than traditional wipes.

In conclusion, the cheap price put on certain household objects is not worth the underlying cost that they entail. Millions of dollars are spent each year to clean sewer machinery and household drains. Environmental issues are associated with flushing nontraditional items like wipes as well.

DIY projects are cost effective and safer in circumstances such as these. Local senators have been in the process of passing bills to ensure that the public knows the dangers of flushing wipes disguised as being safe.

We provide drain cleaning and toilet repair services in the Grand Junction, CO area. Call Peterson Plumbing at (970) 399-7063 today.