Easter means turkey dinners and family gatherings. For household drains and aging sewers across Toronto, it means a lot of grease going down the pipes - and into the sewers.

For some harried cooks, the simplest way to get rid of fat from turkeys, bacon and roasts is down the kitchen drain. There it congeals, clogging the pipe and trapping food scraps until the only solution is to call the plumber.

Easter is especially stressful for household drains.

Congealed grease can harden into a consistency like candle wax or clay.

When houses are packed with guests, there are more showers and toilet flushes than normal. People chuck disposable wipes, cotton balls or hair down the toilet.

Your house kind of has a heart attack.  All that extra activity is enough to push it over the edge.

Some of that household oil and fat makes its way into the aging sewers.

To avoid home drain problems, experts have some advice:

Read more: HOUSEHOLD HEART ATTACK at Easter

Toronto is a beautiful city with grand old trees, and lovely landscaping, but in early spring, tree roots wreak havoc on our plumbing. Once the snow has melted and oxygen-rich water full of nutrients flows freely through the pipes again, the tree-roots infiltrate sewer lines. This is the second-most busiest time of the year for plumbers in Toronto as we are called to help rehabilitate pipes.

Tree roots in sewer lines and digs usually occur on the main line running from the street to your home, and is a problem particularly on older properties that still have clay sewer drains that easily develop cracks in the joints. Causing backups and blockages. The roots grow on the inside of sewer pipes and can lead to costly repairs if not seen to.

What Happens When You Have Roots in Drains?

As a homeowner, you are responsible for maintaining your sewer lateral line, which connects to the pipes in your home. Tree roots grow through cracks in pipes that have occurred over the years to reach the moisture and nutrition inside the pipes. They will continue to grow undisturbed until the pipes are filled to capacity with hair-like root masses that catch all the tissue paper, grit, fats, oils and grease (FOG) and other household debris.

As roots in drains continue to grow, they continue to exert pressure and expand the crack in the joint, causing major leaks or breaks. At worse, it may result in the total blockage of the pipe, requiring replacement of the pipes.

Symptoms of Roots in Drains

Read more: Tree Roots in Sewer Lines and Digs

March break Vacation Travellers/Homeowners. Some homeowners experienced extended power outages last year due to extreme weather conditions …Possibly a new Normal. For this reason Hoerner Heating & Plumbing wanted to do up an article. You may want to consider these steps.

 Hot Water Heating (Radiators), Plumbing  & Drains. Here are 8 Suggestions for Winterizing your Home this March Break.

You may want to consider as a home owner as a preventative measure these steps for reducing liabilities in the home while you are on vacation

1-Proper insulation

Proper insulation in the home and ensuring maintenance is maintained regularly for working components of your home at all times.

2-Main Water Shut Off

 Turn off main water shut off (located close to the water meter) in the house and the drain plumbing water lines in house (check instructions on how to do this).

3-Drain Hot Water Heating System (hire professional)

Draining down hot water heating system (which uses radiators) if travelling for extended period of time.  If you decide to do this we strongly recommend this is done by a Professional because this process may affect other components of the home I.E. Electric Hot Water Tank (Getting a profession heating technician to do so could help you avoid cracked radiators and explosive water damage).

Read more: Tips for Winterizing your Home this March Break

During the holiday season, most of us give up the old diet for a few weeks and indulge in artery-clogging meals, such as butter-basted turkey dinners to hams, bacon and roasts, and more. However, just as FOGs (fats, oils and grease) clog up our arteries, so can they clog up our homes' plumbing systems when harried cooks allow them to enter the drains.  Add to it food scraps, and you may well end up with a stubborn clog that requires professional plumbing help.

Here at Hoerner, the holidays are our busiest times, as plumbing systems are under more strain than usual, and clogged drains are the most common reason why we are called out. People tend to use too little water to flush their garbage disposal units, and then FOGs are added to the mix, causing a messy sludge.

Read more: Holiday Plumbing Facts – Keeping our Precious Water System Unclogged

As winter wraps its chilly fingers around our homes, many homeowners are becoming concerned about protecting their homes. After all, who wouldn’t remember winter 2013 - the worst winter in 100 years. Many homeowners were victims of massive-scale power outages, which led to home fires as people used candles. The freeze and power outages during winter storms also resulted in many burst pipes. Water damage and heating issues ended up costing Toronto residents a small fortune.

Hoerner Heating & Plumbing decided to provide you with some great pointers to keep your home protected this winter.

Read more: Hoerner's Tips for Protecting your Home This Winter