Recently, we’ve received several calls about similar jobs. As suspected, it seems that the holidays are taking their toll on residents’ plumbing. While seasonal parties are a great way to spread goodwill and cheer, they can also negatively impact your home’s water supply, as well as your plumbing fixtures. As such, we’ve been working round the clock, servicing everyone’s last-minute requests.

As a 24-7 plumber that Culver City can count on, Ritz Plumbing is happy to make immediate repairs, especially if it means the difference between having a party, or spending the holidays alone. Our advice? Whether you live on Washington Boulevard or in the neighborhoods around Sony Pictures Studios, don’t let bad plumbing turn you into a Grinch. Exercise prevention, and follow these tips to have fun throughout the new year.

Water heater flush

Many homeowners may not even know this one simple fact about your hot water heater: a flush is required once a year. That’s right. Not every 5 years or every decade – one flush every 12 months. Of course, your heater won’t break if you fail to meet this schedule. On the surface, it may continue to work just fine. But if you want to maintain the life of the appliance and perhaps more importantly – prevent corrosive materials from entering the water supply, have the heater flushed sooner than later. Otherwise, guests at your new year’s party may be faced with cool or dirty tap water.

Water pressure improvement

We recently got a call regarding weak water pressure. The caller had checked the various faucets throughout the house, but they all seemed to suffer from the same fate: a mere trickle of H2O. For the caller, this was an emergency. She was hosting a seasonal dinner party, and panicked about failing to provide a hospitable environment. Ritz inspected the problem (turned out one of her pipes had a small leak), and restored the pressure quickly and efficiently.

But don’t let this happen to you. If you suffer from weak water pressure, or are expecting many guests who’ll be showering, running faucets, etc. at once, consider calling a professional to make sure the pressure is equipped to handle the demand.

Garbage disposal repair

Neglecting a garbage disposal fix is easy to put off, if it’s not a serious problem. This is actually true of most home appliances. We tend to use them until they completely break down altogether. However, if you plan to host a Hanukah, Christmas, New Year’s or any other kind of celebration over the next couple weeks, it’s time to get ahead of the problem. This was a hard-learned lesson by one resident in Downtown Culver City.

In another instance of a last-minute plumbing emergency, the homeowner called us to fix his garbage disposal that suddenly died. He needed it up and running before his guests arrived for Thanksgiving. The solution was fairly simple (coffee grounds had accumulated and caused a serious clog), but of course the lesson here is don’t procrastinate. Ensure holiday fun, and fix any outstanding plumbing problems before it’s too late.