Most Thanksgiving plumbing problems start before the holiday. A kitchen drain or main sewer line that was already partly blocked meets a day of extra cooking, flushing, showers and laundry, and it backs up. Have slow drains cleared the week before, keep grease and food scraps out of the sink, and know where your sewer cleanout is.
What are the most common Thanksgiving plumbing problems?
The three most common are clogged kitchen sinks and garbage disposals, main sewer line blockages, and clogged or overflowing toilets. Roto-Rooter, the national drain company, reports about 50% more service calls on the day after Thanksgiving than on an average Friday, a day plumbers call “Brown Friday.”
| Problem | Why it happens on Thanksgiving | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen sink or disposal clog | Grease, potato peels, rice and stuffing in one big cleanup | What can’t go down the disposal on Thanksgiving |
| Main sewer line backup | A line already narrowed by roots, scale or a sag gets more water than it can pass | Can houseguests cause a sewer backup? |
| Clogged guest toilet | More flushes, plus wipes and paper towels | Why a toilet keeps clogging |
Most of these clogs were building for weeks. The holiday is just the day the pipe runs out of room.
What should you check the week before Thanksgiving?
Check every drain in the house, find your cleanout and shut-off valve, and fix anything slow before guests arrive. A short list:
- Run every sink, tub and shower for a minute. A slow drain, or gurgling in a nearby fixture, means the line is already narrowing.
- Flush every toilet and watch it refill. A weak flush or a running toilet is easier to fix now than with a full house.
- Find the sewer cleanout. In most DFW slab homes it sits outside, within 12 to 18 inches of the foundation, often under mulch or grass. See how to find your sewer cleanout, including buried ones.
- Find the main water shut-off and make sure it turns. Here is where the main shut-off valve is in a DFW home.
- Put a plunger in each bathroom and a lidded trash can in the guest bath.
If more than one drain is slow, the problem is usually the main line, not the fixtures. That is the one to have cleared before the holiday.
What should stay out of the kitchen drain on Thanksgiving?
Keep grease, turkey drippings and food scraps out of the drain, even with hot water running. Pour drippings into a can, let them set, and put them in the trash. Our guide on why hot water does not wash grease away explains what happens to it in the pipe.
Run the dishwasher after the sink is draining freely, not during cleanup, since both often share the same drain.
How do you keep toilets and showers from backing up with guests?
Spread the water use out. Run laundry and the dishwasher between showers instead of during the morning rush, and give each shower a few minutes before the next.
Tell guests the house rule: only toilet paper goes in the toilet. Dallas Water Utilities says wipes “don’t break down in water” and “should always be thrown directly into the trash,” and warns that flushed items can “cause sewage to back up into your home or neighborhood” (Defend Your Drains). The North Texas Municipal Water District puts it more simply: flush only the “3 P’s – pee, poop, paper” (NTMWD).
What should you do if the drains back up on Thanksgiving?
Stop using water everywhere in the house first. Every flush, faucet and appliance sends more water into the same blocked line.
- Turn off the dishwasher and washing machine and ask guests not to flush or shower.
- Check how many drains are affected. One clogged toilet or sink is usually a local clog a plunger or toilet auger can clear. Water rising in a tub or shower when a toilet flushes means the main line.
- Do not pour chemical drain cleaner into it. On a main line clog it does nothing useful and leaves caustic water in the tub. See whether chemical drain cleaners damage pipes.
- Keep people and pets away from any sewage, and do not touch it with bare hands.
- Call a licensed plumber to clear the main line from the cleanout.
Our guide to sewage backing up into a bathtub covers the next steps and cleanup.
What are the most expensive Thanksgiving plumbing repairs?
Main sewer line problems cost the most. Clearing a main line runs about $175 to $800 depending on the method, against $100 to $275 for a single sink or toilet clog, according to the industry ranges in our drain cleaning cost guide. The bill grows when the camera finds a broken pipe, a sag or root-filled joints, because then the line needs a repair, not just a cleaning.
That is the honest limit of a pre-holiday cleaning: it buys time on a clogged line, but it does not fix a cracked or sagging pipe. Only a sewer camera inspection shows which one you have.
How can you avoid calling a plumber on Thanksgiving?
Deal with slow drains before the holiday. A drain that clears today and a main line that was cleaned the week before rarely fail on Thanksgiving Day.
If every drain in the house runs fast, nothing gurgles and you have had no backups this year, you probably do not need a pre-holiday visit. If drains are slow, gurgling or have backed up before, book drain cleaning or a camera inspection the week before Thanksgiving. Nuflow DFW drain cleaning starts at $150, and a camera inspection starts at $250.
Call (469) 701-0597 or schedule online.
