You may need repairs to your plumbing after a major freeze or winter storm, especially if you were traveling when the storm hit your area. Frozen pipes can break or burst, causing severe water damage when the ice thaws or if there water is only partially frozen.

When football fans arrive at your Super Bowl party, they'll be eating more chicken wins, nachos, pizza, and other snacks than usual. This means your toilets and garbage disposal will be heading into overtime. To prevent plumbing emergencies from throwing a flag on your party, Mr. Rooter service recommends the following tips:

• Don’t leave anything on the toilet tank that could be knocked in and clog the pipes.
• Leave a trash can handy in the bathroom, so guests won’t be tempted to napkins, facial tissue, paper towels, or other sanitary products.
• Don’t overload your garbage disposal.
• Throw your table scraps into the trash can or compost pile, not down your drains.
• Avoid allowing any grease to make its way from your plates to your drain.
• Ensure you know the location of and how to use the emergency water shut-off valve in case of a plugged or damaged toilet.

Freezing water lines are a common problem for any faucet in the house, including kitchen plumbing. In very cold winter conditions a frozen pipe may rupture, causing additional plumbing headaches. Most people know to run a trickle of water through their faucets during freeze warnings, but it is easy to make the mistake of assuming insulated pipes don't need this precaution. Insulation on the pipes supplying water to your kitchen plumbing system do not generate heat or warmth; it only traps the existing heat that may be in the pipe. If you wake up to frozen plumbing, you may be able to thaw the pipes out with a hair dryer if you know where to look for the frozen lines. If you do try to thaw out your pipes, never thaw them with an open flame source. Many fires are caused this way, and it's far safer to use a hair dryer or other warm (but not burning) heat source.

In the midst of the Halloween festivities, if carvers don’t properly dispose of the pulp from their freshly carved pumpkins, they may spend their time waiting for the plumber instead of trick-or-treaters. Carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is an integral part of Halloween, but it can turn sour if the seeds and pulp are dumped down the garbage disposal. The pumpkin’s pulp hardens and clogs in drains instead of breaking down like most foods. To ensure the pumpkin carving experience – and your pipes – flow smoothly, Mr. Rooter recommends that you keep the pumpkin carvings away from the kitchen sink to avoid any unwanted scraps from sneaking into your drain. The same applies to all sinks and, yes, your toilet too. Instead, throw all pumpkin-leavings into the trashcan.

When you have family and friends over, which occurs most often during the holiday season, your bathrooms and kitchen will be busier than usual. To save yourself the cost and inconvenience of a plumbing emergency, Mr. Rooter recommends you keep your plumbing in mind. Follow the below tips to make sure your holidays go smoothly:

• Don’t dispose of grease down the drain.
• Large food scraps should be thrown in the trashcan or compost heap.
• Never put turkey, potato skins, or celery in the garbage disposal.
• Greasy plates, pots, and pans should be wiped down before washing them.
• Rinse your dishes off before putting them in the dishwasher.
• Go easy on your garbage disposal and don’t overload it.
• If your disposal stops in the middle of use, turn it off and press the re-set button under the sink.

In the bathroom:

• Space showers at least ten minutes apart.
• Don’t flush anything that doesn’t break down easily, such as paper towels, facial tissue, cotton balls, or other sanitary products.
• Make sure you know where the water shut-off valve is and how to use it in case of a plumbing emergency.
• Don’t leave small objects on the top of the toilet tank that could fall in and cause clogs.