Getting Ready for Vacation?

You are getting ready for your summer vacation by packing suitcases, making sure you have paid the bills, and planning out your days in the sun. All set, right? How could you have forgotten something? When you hire that house sitter to watch your TV and eat your food while they keep an eye on the place, make sure they do one thing. Every so often, have them run the taps and flush the toilets in your house, even if they do not use them. Why? Underneath every plumbing fixture in the house is a “P” or “S” shaped trap. Sinks, tubs toilets, whatever uses water has one. This trap holds a little water at all times to make sure certain nasty sewer gases do not back up into your house. Apart from smelling foul, these gases can be dangerous. If they build up, toxic methane can even explode! However, the traps that are under all your fixtures work only when they contain water. Usually, this is taken care of automatically. You use the installation, most of the water used drains away, and some water stays in the trap. When you leave plumbing unused for a while, however, this process no longer takes place. Evaporation occurs and the water in the trap dries up. Now, sewer gases are free to enter your home. All it takes to prevent this is have someone stop by and run water through any plumbing fixtures in your house for just a few seconds. So, when you are packing suitcases, corralling the kids, and making sure the dog is put up in a kennel, be sure that you have someone to come around and run your taps. Moreover, if any last minute plumbing problems do pop up before you go, H. Jack’s super plumber is available all day, every day to come to the rescue.