Although plumbing problems are inevitable for a homeowner, there are steps you can take to reduce the number of service calls to a plumbing company. The following are three tips to help you accomplish this.

Be careful what you put down your kitchen drain

Sometimes when you cook, you will find that you have a lot of oil or grease in a pan. When this happens, try to dispose of it into a container, and then after it cools down, throw it is in the trash. You have to take care to use a container that can handle the temperature of hot oil, because it is easier to get out of a pan while it is still hot and in liquid form. What you don’t want to do is wash it down the sink. Over time, this will cause a drain stoppage.

Run your water after using the garbage disposal

A garbage disposal is a great kitchen appliance, but over time, they can create drain problems. It is true that they do a good job of cutting up leftover food, but sometime the pieces are still large enough to get hung up on the sides of a drain pipe that already has small, soft materials that are stuck to the sides of the pipe. Large materials passing from the garbage disposal can contribute to the drain stopping up. The solution to this problem is to keep your water running in your sink for at least 30 seconds to a minute after you are finished with the garbage disposal. You want to give the waste you sent through your disposal a chance to make it to your main drain line where the chances of it creating a stoppage problem are slim.

Prevent water pipes from bursting

Water expands when frozen, and when this happens to a water pipe, the expansion can lead to cracks in the connections. You won’t know this has happened until the ice in the pipes melts, but when it does, you may need to place an emergency call to naperville plumbers due to a bursting pipe. The solution is to run water when the temperature drops below freezing. Although it takes time for your water pipes to freeze, if the water is not running, and the temperature gets cold enough, it will happen. The time this usually happens is while you are sleeping, because the water is not running for at least 8 hours. The same can be true in the daytime, but as long as someone is at home and using the water occasionally, this is less likely to be an issue.

Plumbing repairs can be expensive, and although there is no way to prevent them completely, the tips above will help you.