I have been away on vacation, and it takes a while to get back into the groove of daily life. As I was coming back from dropping my son off at the bus stop for school this morning, I looked around to see if it was recycling today. There were neighbors with their bins out, so I fetched mine for the curb. I noticed that not many of my neighbors had placed their bins out. In fact, only about a quarter of them had done so.
Houston's mayor has been pushing for more residents to take part in recycling, and it is a shame if we do not take this simple step to help out. Recycling happens every other week on the normal trash pick-up day, and they take many of the items that can be reused.
Thinking about recycling caused me to remember another campaign from the mayor's office: grease disposal. Having worked in the food service industry, I have seen what grease can do to plumbing lines. The city has been making the argument about what cooking grease poured down the kitchen sink does to the sewer system. I would like to change that argument some to highlight what damage it can do to your home.
Last year when inspecting one house, I found that the plumbing was good in the house, except for one spot: the kitchen sink. Usually inspectors find problems, but we do not go into a full diagnosis. I wanted to give my clients a bit better information, so I investigated further. The sink was not draining well, and when I looked into the line, I found items from the workers who had been remodeling the home. The crew had been using this sink to clean all of their equipment out. What had made the problem worse though was the grease from the previous family. The line was clogged by it, so the workers did not have to do much to completely stop it up.
If you are going to be selling your home, you may want to take the time to clean out slow draining sinks, since this will go in an inspector's report. If you are not planning a move, you may want to stop the practice of pouring down grease from cooking into your sink, because it can cause you problems later. Find a container to pour the grease into, so it can be thrown away. I saved old peanut butter jars for this task. If you are having a problem, try cleaning out the P-trap first. If further problems persist, try a snake (the tool) in your line. Otherwise you will need a plumber.
Treat your house well, and it will treat you well.
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