Are you ready for “Brown Friday”
“Brown Friday,” which refers to the day after Thanksgiving, is said to be the busiest day of the year for the plumbing industry, thanks in no small part to folks misusing their garbage disposals, their drains and even their toilets. “Thanksgiving is a perfect storm for plumbing emergencies,” Paul Abrams, a spokesperson for Roto-Rooter, said in a press release issued ahead of the holiday. “With homes full of guests, extra showers, and marathon kitchen sessions, pipes and disposals are pushed to their limits. Add in greasy turkey drippings and food scraps, and it’s no wonder drains clog and toilets back up.” “I would say it’s the full week,” Luis Sais, the drain supervisor at Plumbline Services in Colorado, told Nexstar’s KDVR last year. Roto-Rooter, in its press release, said the company fields about 21% more calls over the long holiday weekend than they expect during other times of the year. Sais, speaking with KDVR, said his plumbing company gets roughly twice as many calls during Thanksgiving week than they do during non-holiday periods.
One of the main issues, both services say, is people pouring grease down their drain. “We call it ‘Brown Friday’ just because of the amount of grease that goes down in every kitchen line. Baking grease, turkey grease,” said Sais. “All sorts of grease and you don’t want that going down your kitchen line because obviously you’ll get a plug and you’ll end up calling us.” Roto-Rooter added that misuse of the garbage disposal, like shoving any food scraps into it, or leaving it running while dropping things into it, also causes frequent issues that require a plumbing professional. Don’t put starchy and fibrous food waste into your garbage disposal. Take a minute to scoop the gunk by hand into the garbage. If your sinks are draining slowly or you notice any other small plumbing issues before the big meal, get them fixed before you strain your system and save an expensive phone call. Be careful what you throw down the drain lines. Keep it to the typical normal things you do and run more water. Be vigilant.
Guests misusing the toilets may lead to a problem as well: Roto-Rooter suggests discouraging guests from using wipes (even flushable ones) and placing plenty of garbage bins throughout the kitchen and bathroom to keep holiday visitors from flushing items that shouldn’t be flushed. Sais also encourages awareness of good plumbing practices, lest you find yourself with unusable sinks and toilets on Turkey Day. “Careful what you throw down the drain lines,” he said. “Keep it to the typical normal things you do and run more water. Be vigilant.” Los Angeles leads the nation by far in Brown Friday calls to plumbers. No surprise: both Pittsburgh and Philly are in the top 20. Not one Ohio city made last year’s ranking. Make sure you get those drains cleaned Friday because Saturday is the Ohio State – Michigan football game at noon.
Plumbing for fun
In Soviet Russia a man goes to buy a car, the dealer warns him:
“You know there is a 10 year waiting list?”
The man answers, ‘OK,’ So he pays for the car in advance, and just before he leaves he asks the dealer, “Can I pick the car up in the morning or afternoon?”
“It’s 10 years away, what does it matter?”
“The plumber is coming in the morning.”
There must be a special discount store for plumber.
Their pants are always 50% off.
What do plumbers and economists have in common?
They both deal with gross domestic product.
I asked a plumber what time it was…
He told me it was between 8 AM and 4 PM.
November 25th Birthdays
1971 – Christina Applegate, 1960 – Amy Grant, 1969 – Jill Hennessy, 1986 – Katie Cassidy
1835 – Andrew Carnegie, 1944 – Ben Stein, 1947 – John Larroquette, 1963 – Bernie Kosar