Why this week
Plumbers call the day after Thanksgiving "Brown Friday," and it isn't a joke. A kitchen that handles two people's dishes all year gets a 20-pound bird, two gallons of grease, five pounds of potato peels, and a dozen helpers who each pour something down the sink. A bathroom that sees four flushes a day sees sixty. The weak points in your plumbing that you've been living with quietly all fall get found out in one afternoon.
The good news is that almost all of it is preventable, and none of it takes more than ten minutes.
The kitchen sink and disposal
Grease is the enemy. Turkey fat, bacon grease, gravy, butter: liquid in the pan, solid in your pipes. It coats the inside of the drain line and hardens in the cold section under the floor or in the wall. Pour grease into a can or a jar, let it set, throw it out. Wiping pans with a paper towel before washing saves more drain calls than anything else on this page.
The disposal is not a trash can. It handles small scraps. It does not handle: potato peels (they turn to paste and set like concrete), onion skins and celery (stringy, wrap the impeller), turkey skin and bones, stuffing (bread swells), rice and pasta (same), coffee grounds (settle into sludge), and anything you'd describe as fibrous. Put a strainer in the sink and scrape plates into the trash.
Run cold water before, during and for 20 seconds after running the disposal. Cold keeps any fat solid so it moves through as particles instead of coating the pipe. Hot water melts it onto the pipe wall.
If the disposal hums but won't spin: turn it off and leave it off. Don't put your hand in, don't run it dry, and call; a jam is a quick visit, a disposal that trips repeatedly or leaks from the bottom is done. Our full disposal guide covers what it will and won't take.
The dishwasher drains through the disposal. If the disposal is clogged, the dishwasher backs up into the sink. Run the disposal before you start the dishwasher.
The slow drain you've been ignoring
If the kitchen sink has been draining slowly since September, Thanksgiving is when it stops. Have it cleared this week on a weekday, not Friday night — a drain cleaning visit, not an emergency call. Don't pour chemical drain cleaner in; if it doesn't work, you've now got a sink full of caustic water for the plumber to deal with, and it damages old pipes.
The bathroom
One toilet, twenty people. Make sure a plunger is visible in the bathroom so nobody has to ask. A flange plunger (with the fold-out cup) works far better than the flat kind. Put a small trash can with a lid next to the toilet: wipes, even the "flushable" kind, feminine products, paper towels and cotton balls do not go in Chicago sewers.
If the toilet runs or the flapper sticks, have it fixed this week. A toilet that needs the handle jiggled will overflow on a day when guests don't know the trick.
Spread the load. If you have a second bathroom, point people to it. Showers for overnight guests: stagger them, and if you have a 40-gallon tank heater, know that it recovers about one shower every 20 to 30 minutes. See the water heater lifespan guide if yours is struggling.
The water heater
More hot water in two days than in a normal week. If the heater is old, noisy, or has been producing less hot water, a house full of guests is where it quits. Check it this week: no water at the base, no rust in the hot water, the temperature set to 120°F. Here's the five-sign check.
The ten-minute list
- Grease can on the counter. Strainer in the sink.
- Have the slow kitchen drain cleared if it's been slow.
- Run the disposal and make sure it spins freely.
- Plunger and lidded trash can in every bathroom.
- Have any running toilet fixed.
- Walk around the water heater with a flashlight.
- Know where the main shut-off is, and show one other adult.
- Save 833-758-6911 in your phone. A live person answers on Thanksgiving, on Friday, and at 2 AM.
If something does go wrong, a union plumber from Plumbers Local 130 can be dispatched any day of the year. Get the price before any work starts, and enjoy the leftovers.