Hosting family and friends is one of the best parts of having a vacation home or living in a vacation spot, but having extra people staying in your home can put a strain on your home’s systems and appliances. Check out these five ways to help avoid disaster.
1. Run your oven through its self-cleaning cycle long before the guests arrive.
You’ll want your oven in top shape for cooking big meals (especially if you’ve got the kind of family members who might judge you based on the cleanliness of your oven).
Running the self-cleaning cycle before guests arrive also helps reduce the risk of kitchen fires. Doing this chore early allows time for that funky oven self-cleaning smell to dissipate before your houseguests arrive.
Warning: If you have pets, put off using the self-cleaning cycle until the weather is right to put them outdoors. The fumes created by the cycle can make them ill or even kill them.
2. Treat your garbage disposal right.
Preparing meals for a big crowd can put your garbage disposal through a real workout. Some disposals are better than others at handling hard or fibrous foods.
- Feed vegetable peels into the disposal in small amounts, always with the water running.
- Avoid grinding stringy foods like celery, corn husks, artichokes and pulpy insides of pumpkins or squash. The fibers will stick to the blades making clogs more likely.
- Grind bones, fruit pits and other hard materials only if your disposal is designed to handle those kinds of foods. Even then, do a small amount at a time.
Note: the best way to insure that nothing is chewed up by the disposal that shouldn’t be, is
to purchase a garbage disposal stopper like the one to the right. It is specially designed to allow water and small particles through, and it can stay in place all the time, even while you’re running the disposal. They’re easily removed to allow larger debris, this allows you to double check what’s going into the disposal.
3. Protect yourself from washing machine hose problems. Damaged or ill-fitting hoses can lead to floods.
Inspect the hoses that connect your washing machine to the hot and cold water spigots in your laundry room. Look for blisters or cracks. If you see any, replace the hoses before using your washing machine again.
Better yet, upgrade to stainless steel hoses so you don’t have to worry that your rubber hoses will spring a leak and flood your home.
4. Clean the lint out of your dryer vent.
Worst case scenario: The lint in your dryer vent causes a fire. Best case scenario: The lint in your dryer vent causes your dryer to work inefficiently. You can have the dryer vent professionally cleaned or, do it yourself.
Gardus
5. Get sewer lines snaked or septic tank pumped.
Getting your septic tank inspected and pumped protects the system and extends its life span. When solids build up, they can move into the drain field, which puts a strain your system.
Sewer lines are largely an out-of-sight-out-of-mind kind of thing… until they’re not. Having your lines snaked is a minimal expense compared to a back-up. Not to mention your guest’s memories of their visit with you.
If you need help finding someone to get your appliances and home systems running efficiently during the Summer, or any other time of year, please reach out to me. I know lots of great service people in our area.
