When most people call a Fox Valley plumbing company, they’re doing so because they are living through a plumbing nightmare. These plumbing nightmares usually happen at the absolute worst time. A person might be planning a large dinner party and expecting a ton of guests. A few hours before their guests are supposed to arrive, the toilet on the second floor overflows and won’t stop running. Water is going everywhere. In these moments it is easy to panic and be worried about what to do next.

The truth is that when there is a plumbing nightmare, the best thing that a person can do is to stay calm. Keeping sanity amidst perceived calamity is a key factor in coming out the other end successful. In addition to calling the plumber, simple steps like shutting off the water supply to the faucet or to the unit that is leaking can stop the problem until help can arrive. If the problem is severe, it may be necessary to cut off the water to the home until help can get there.

That being said, there are some steps that homeowners can take to prevent plumbing nightmares from ever happening. For example, don’t put grease down the sink. When grease is warm, it’s liquid and can be easily poured down the sink. However, as the grease cools, it starts to congeal and form a solid waste that can block up the sink or even block up sewer lines. Pouring grease down the drain is simply asking for disaster.

Stay away from flushable wipes. This might seem counterintuitive because one could think if flushable wipes are sold in the store, they designed to be safe to flush down the toilet. Don’t do it. This is especially true in homes that are in city areas. Homes that are in older cities may have underground plumbing that was not built to handle these wipes.

Something else that many people do that can set them up for a plumbing emergency is using drop in toilet bowl cleaners. They do a great job keeping the toilet bowl clean, but they are detrimental when it comes to your pipes. These cleaners will eventually cause your pipes to corrode, and this corrosion will lead to cracks. Having a cracked sewer line can be super expensive and super messy to try to fix. Although it may require a little bit of elbow grease, traditional toilet bowl cleaning methods are usually the best.