If you’re a kitchen lover, regular plumbing maintenance can help keep your kitchen in good working condition all throughout the year. Besides, having a well-maintained kitchen plumbing is indeed beneficial to you and your family. While it only takes a little time, what’s essential in maintaining your kitchen’s plumbing system is to minimize some serious problems which may need more time, money and energy to fix. So here’s a quick plumbing maintenance checklist to keep your home’s kitchen running properly.
Kitchen Clogs
If you don’t have a well-maintained plumbing system in your kitchen, then you may experience a clogged sink later on. It’s therefore important to get your sink drain cleaned to avoid unlawful smell from dominating your whole kitchen. Remember, these clogs can also preclude you from using your sink for food preparation purposes and even for the disposal of food wastes after meals. Below are the things to do to keep your kitchen sink in good condition:
• Try to use a drain cleaner in cleaning your kitchen sink drain lines. This monthly cleaning will keep food wastes from accumulating and causing serious clogs.
• To avoid a clogged kitchen drain, never throw fibrous or stingy wastes like banana peels, celery and carrots into the garbage disposer.
• Refrain from pouring liquid grease onto the drain. After cooking, you make sure to wipe jellied grease from the pans and pots using a paper towel and throw it in the trash can.
• If you see some wastes through the line, running cold water down the drain for at least
15 seconds can be the best thing to do after flushing waste using a garbage disposer.
Garbage Disposer Clean-up
For food disposal purposes, you need to have a garbage disposer in place at your kitchen.
However, a build-up of food wastes within the disposer can cause awful odors. To eradicate these foul odors in your kitchen, here’s what you need to do from the very beginning:
• To maintain an odorless kitchen all throughout the day, be sure to rinse all remaining debris away through the use of running water for at least 30 seconds.
• Apart from rinsing it water, don’t forget to keep your garbage disposer free from filthy odors by pouring a little amount of liquid dish detergent.
• You can also have the option of grinding lemon rinds or grinding ice cubes within the disposer for at least 30 seconds.
Kitchen Faucet
One of the important parts of your kitchen is the faucet. Hence, you shouldn’t allow your faucet to be subject of repair. Not only that but ensuring your kitchen plumbing maintenance means keeping the aerator of your faucet clean. Take note, lime build-up and sediment blockage are usually the reasons why the water leaks from the faucet handle. If you don’t want your faucet to fall into a poor condition, here are some ways to clean your aerator:
• Try to remove the aerator’s head and spray it apart.
• Remove the sediment from the aerator using a brush plunged in vinegar.
• Use your hand to unscrew the aerator counterclockwise so you can clean it properly. If you find it difficult, you can loosen the aerator by wrapping the jaws of your pliers using a masking tape.
Sink and Garbage Disposal Leaks
Essentially, an efficient plumbing system in your kitchen can help keep your family and home clean at all times. Perhaps, the moment you have a functioning plumbing system free from leaks, you can then rest knowing you can gain a lot of benefits from it. Here’s how to handle sink and garbage disposal leaks:
• Aside from the build-up of food debris, poor maintenance of your kitchen plumbing can cause sink leaks. While it gets a lot of use every day, your sink then becomes susceptible to leaks which occur at the sink strainers, faucet, and other sink accessories. Thus, you better inspect the top and bottom of the sink to spot any signs of water damage so you can have it repaired as soon as possible.
• When it comes to garbage disposal leaks, you make sure to check some essential maintenance requirements to prevent serious plumbing repairs from straining your financial resources. Keep in mind, leaks can also be found in the garbage disposal. These can even go unnoticed that’s why it’s best to consider the recommendations of the manufacturer for the maintenance of the unit.
Repair of Garbage Disposal
Your garbage disposer plays a vital role in your kitchen plumbing system. Hence, if you notice your disposer stops during the operation, it’s about time to check whether it’s caused by a broken electrical connection. Here’s how to repair your garbage disposal:
• Try to restart the disposer and turn on the power switch.
• Once the switch is turned on, find the reset switch on the front or bottom part of the disposer and press it.
• Be sure you plug the appliance securely at the outlet.
• In repairing the disposer by yourself, refrain from putting your objects or hands down the drain.
The Bottom Line
Taking care of your kitchen’s plumbing is always important. While most people don’t mind their plumbing system, it’s a good idea to have it maintained properly to avoid a huge mess and more importantly, a larger bill afterward. Since your kitchen is the most essential area for cooking and preparing your family’s food, be sure to invest in your plumbing maintenance to prevent some small issues from turning into expensive problems. By following the checklist presented in this article, we hope you can conserve water and keep some money in your wallet. Also,if you need help with your plumbing system, there are many maintenance service providers like GM Plumbing Corporation that can assist you with your needs.
