Two of the country's largest plumbing repair companies said they will be quite busy after Thanksgiving, a day dubbed “Brown Friday.”
Roto-Rooter said it saw a 50% increase in call volume the day after Thanksgiving compared to an average Friday. The company also said Thanksgiving weekend saw a 21% increase in business compared to all other four-day weekend periods.
Mr. Rooter also describes the day after Thanksgiving as the busiest day of the year. The company said that clogged toilets are not the cause of all the problems, but rather objects getting into the kitchen drains and clogging the pipes.
“A typical Thanksgiving dinner puts a far greater strain on your kitchen sink than on a normal day. To make matters worse, the type of food typically prepared on Thanksgiving clogs the sinks exceptionally badly,” Mr. Rooter said.
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“Homes full of vacationers require additional showers and more flushing toilets, which in itself puts a strain on residential drainage systems,” said Paul Abrams, spokesman for Roto-Rooter. “But as soon as there's a lot going on in the kitchen and the sink and trash can arrive with peelings, rice, poultry skin and greasy turkey fat, it quickly starts to clog up.”
Roto-Rooter has released the following tips to avoid drainage problems on Thanksgiving weekend:
- Never pour fat, turkey fat or cooking oil down the drain. They solidify in pipes like candle wax and clog drains.
- Do not throw potato peelings, poultry peelings, bones, rice or pasta in the trash. Small amounts of waste can be processed during disposal, but most food should go into the trash can or compost heap.
- Make sure the garbage disposal is running when adding food scraps.
- Do not flush wet wipes down the toilet. Most do not dissolve and can clog drainpipes and sewers.
- Place plungers in guest bathrooms to save guests the embarrassment of asking for them.
- Space out showers and laundry loads so that pipes have time to drain.
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Both Roto-Rooter and Mr. Rooter said they will be fully staffed on Black Friday to assist customers with plumbing needs.
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