East Texas plumbers give tips to avoid post-Thanksgiving pipe clogs

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - After your Thanksgiving meal, the last thing you want to deal with is a clogged sink or garbage disposal.

But every year Truss and Son Plumbing in Lufkin says it sees on average 40 more calls after holiday meals due to people improperly disposing food and clogging their sinks.

“They just take all the food and put it down the disposal,” Kevin Dulaney, supervisor at Truss and Son Plumbing said.

Dulaney said a big factor is the misconception on what a garbage disposal can do, which leads to people using it to dispose of all uneaten food.

“Garbage disposals, a lot of people think they can just put all kinds of food own in it,” Dulaney said. “A trash compactor basically.”

But due to the disposal being connected to a smaller drain line, some foods will quickly clog the pipes. And many of the foods that can easily clog the pipes are staples during holiday dinners.

“Certain things going down the disposal is not good,” Dulaney said. “Bones, any kind of pastas, noodles. They tend to swell in the line.”

When putting proper items down the disposal, Dulaney said there’s a simple trick to help prevent getting the drain clogged.

“Always run water when you’re using the disposal and follow with a sink full of water to help flush out that line,” Dulaney said.

And with sinks, Dulaney said the common culprit they see is grease being poured down the drain.

“Cooking oil and grease is never good for putting down the drain,” Dulaney said. “You need to dispose of it properly, but never put it down in your plumbing system.”