Plumbers thankful for stuffed holiday drains

BRETT COOMER : CHRONICLE PIPE DREAMS: Plumber Tom Pierce expects he'll be extra busy in venues like this the day after Thanksgiving. Roto-Rooter's Ken Hrebeck says it's known as "Brown Friday." BRETT COOMER : CHRONICLE PIPE DREAMS: Plumber Tom Pierce expects he'll be extra busy in venues like this the day after Thanksgiving. Roto-Rooter's Ken Hrebeck says it's known as "Brown Friday." Photo: Brett Coomer Photo: Brett Coomer Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Plumbers thankful for stuffed holiday drains 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Notwithstanding the so-called true spirit of Thanksgiving, the holiday is about one thing and one thing only: eating. And not just eating, but feasting.

But all that cooking and gorging can overwork any kitchen - and frankly eventually the bathroom.

So it's no wonder that the Thanksgiving weekend has become by far the busiest time of year for plumbers - especially the Friday after the big feast. Homeowners don't want to pay extra for a plumber on a holiday and so they delay until Friday to get that sink fixed or toilet unclogged.

"What merchants swamped with shoppers call Black Friday, we call our Brown Friday," quipped Ken Hrebeck with Roto-Rooter in Houston.

With households overflowing with guests, the excessive use of facilities from toilets to garbage disposals is the perfect prelude to a household plumbing disaster.

Hrebeck and other plumbers estimate plumbing business generally increases by about 25 percent over the holiday.

"There's nothing like having one toilet for 15 people. Might as well make it into a port-a-potty and call it a day," said Vince Walker with SWG plumbing service in Houston.

More Information PLUMBER'S HELPER To avoid embarrassing plumbing disasters during Thanksgiving, the experts make a few suggestions: Never put grease down a garbage disposal because it will solidify and clog a drain. Avoid putting stringy, fibrous or starchy waste down a disposal that will clog drains. Use lots of water before and after using a garbage disposal. Run the garbage disposal before starting the dishwasher because it drains into the same pipe as the sink. Wait for a toilet bowl to refill before using it again. Never put cotton balls, hair or facial scrub pads down a toilet because they don't dissolve.

Plumbers report finding all sorts of objects flushed down a toilet during Thanksgiving from false teeth to diamond rings. The strangest thing Walker ever found clogging a toilet was a bullfrog that a child had been trying to give a "water burial."

The Thanksgiving meal itself can also become problematic.

The stringy mush and seeds from a pumpkin, turkey dressing and bones have been known to cause many a clog when thrown down a garbage disposal, said Patty Frank with Milton Frank Plumbing in Spring.

But plumbers agree the culprits most often found clogging drains are potato and onion peelings.

"They're slippery and can form a paste. Things can swell up in a pipe," said Tom Pierce, who has handled plumbing issues in the Heights and Montrose for 38 years.

Gratitude, frustration

When plumbers respond to those emergency calls over Thanksgiving, they say homeowners greet them with a sense of gratitude mixed with frustration. Nobody is prepared when that starchy side dish expands, turns to concrete and causes a nasty water back flow.

"Usually, we find a husband standing there shaking his head, saying 'I warned them not to put that down there,' " Walker said.

cindy.horswell@chron.com