Gosh, do I ever have mixed feelings about fall. On the one hand, I think it’s one of the most beautiful seasons – the sight of the changing leaves, the crisp crunching they make as I walk over them, the feeling of cool air in my lungs, the smell of the last campfires and barbecues. On the other hand, well – you live in Winnipeg, you know what I’m worried about, I’m not even going to say (type?) it. No matter your feelings on the season, you should take some plumbing precautions – fall has its own set of challenges for your home’s plumbing.
Clogged Drainage
There’s a lot of reasons to be meticulous about raking your leaves and the City of Winnipeg will collect your yard waste during this time of season. One reason to rake is that leaves can get into your drainage system, get wet, and form balls that will clog it up. Fortunately, it’s organic matter, so it’s pretty easy to deal with, but as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We offer sewer cleaning in Winnipeg so we can give you a hand if things go badly, but it’s best if things go well all year round! On a similar note, you should clear out your home’s gutters so water doesn’t end up backing into your home.
Store Your Garden Hose
Gardening season is, sadly, behind us, unless you have some incredible secrets to keep growing this late in the season (if you do, let us know). That means you should get the hose off the faucet, drain all the water out of it, and store it until warm weather comes around again. Otherwise, the water inside it might freeze, and it could break.
Holiday Feasts
Thanksgiving is coming up, and that means friends, family, and food. Lots of food. Food that might end up going down the drain of your sink – not so great. If you have a garbage disposal, it might get overworked, and if you don’t have a garbage disposal – well, you’re just looking for clogged drains, aren’t you! Make sure that as much food as possible is scraped into the garbage, or compost, or whatever you do – just not the sink.
Water Heater Tune-Up
As the thermometer dips, your water heater is going to have to work harder – the water it’s heating is colder, after all, and it needs to be brought up to the same temperature as before. In fall and winter, we see an uptick in water heater problems for exactly this reason – the machinery has to work overtime, so small problems get magnified. It’s a good idea to have someone check on your water heater about once a year, and fall is a great time to do it.
There are quite a few more tips for when the season starts getting colder – tips like don’t leave your water running unsupervised while you’re away from home for long periods of time and you expect sub-zero temperatures. More on all that when things get chillier!
