It’s still warm out, but the cooler air is going to start hinting at fall soon. When that first cool breeze hits, most homeowners have a plan. They focus on cleaning gutters, packing away patio furniture, and checking the HVAC system. However, people tend to forget one key part of the home when they’re making that seasonal checklist: the plumbing!
During the summer pipes get a workout. Backyard barbecues, kids running in and out of the house and playing in the yard… water usage is generally higher. Late summer is the best time to catch small plumbing issues before they turn into colder-weather emergencies.
Why Summer Takes a Toll on Your Plumbing
Summer in Oklahoma can be a unique test to a home’s infrastructure. When the kids are home from school, water usage spikes. Showers happen more often. Laundry piles up, and kitchen sinks work overtime rinsing produce, washing dishes, and handling food waste from casual weekend grilling.
All of that extra traffic leaves behind residue. Soap scum, hair, food particles, and grease slowly build up along the interior walls of your pipes during the warmer months. When the weather shifts and temperatures drop, fats and greases harden more quickly, turning minor buildup into serious blockages.
If you want to avoid a plumbing headache as life gets busier toward the holidays, we’d recommend some proactive maintenance!
Clearing and Checking Your Drain Traps
One of the easiest places to start your late-summer plumbing checkup is right under your sinks. If you open up a cabinet door, you’ll see a curved piece of pipe sitting right beneath the sink basin. Plumbers call this assembly a P-trap.
This curved section serves an important purpose: it holds a small amount of standing water that acts as an airtight barrier, which keeps stinky sewer gases from floating up out of your drains and into your home. It’s designed to catch heavy debris, like a dropped ring or stray bits of food, so those items don’t travel into your main plumbing lines.
Because it’s designed to catch debris, it can also catch a lot of sticky gunk over the course of the summer.
If you notice a sink draining just a bit slower than usual, or if you catch a strange, musty odor coming out of the drain, your P-trap might need some attention. If you’re feeling brave, this can even be a DIY project. Place a bucket underneath, then carefully unscrew the plastic nuts holding the pipe in place.
If you clean out the trap and find it completely clear, but the water still doesn’t drain as quickly as it should, the blockage might be further down in the wall or floor. When the clog moves out of reach, it’s time to Google “professional draining cleaning near me”. We’ll get it sorted out!
The Importance of Plumbing Line Maintenance
While sink traps handle local messes, your main sewer line carries every gallon of wastewater away from your home and into the city municipal system. Over the summer, tree roots actively seek out moisture in underground pipes, and shifting soils can cause minor cracks or sags to form.
When your main line starts to fill with grease, scale, and debris, you’ll definitely notice some warning signs. For example, if your toilet makes a bubbling sound when you’re running the bathroom sink, air is trapped because water can’t flow past a blockage in the main line.
When the kitchen sink, shower, and guest bathroom all back up at the same time, the problem is definitely not localized to just one fixture; it’s a main line issue.
If flushing your toilet causes water to pool in your shower basin, your main line is blocked.
This kind of blockage can’t be handled with just a plunger or a bottle of harsh chemical drain cleaner. In fact, caustic store-bought chemicals can actually damage older pipes and create leaks. This is definitely a job for a professional with a motorized auger or professional-grade hydrojetting.
The Benefits of Proactive Seasonal Care
Waiting for a plumbing failure is a stressful and expensive way to manage a home. By scheduling your pipe maintenance before life gets busy later in the year, you gain peace of mind and protect your property from water damage.
Don’t wait for a midnight overflow or a backed-up kitchen sink to ruin your weekend! A little preventative care in the late summer goes a long way toward keeping your home running smoothly. Reach out to us to get your drains cleaned and pipes inspected ahead of time.