Turkey, sweet potatoes and much more head down the drain and through the garbage disposer during the holidays. The result is the busiest plumbing season of the year, according to Yellowpages.com, a leading Internet Yellow Pages and local search site referenced monthly by households across the country.
Yellowpages.com, owned jointly by AT&T and BellSouth, released data showing that more people search for plumbing businesses and services in November and December than in any other months of the year. Combined, the two months accounted for 36% of searches to plumbing-related headings in 2005, with December representing the single busiest time with 19% of the year's total searches.
"Our search data provides a colorful window into what businesses Americans turn to at various times of the year," said Charles Stubbs, president and CEO of Yellowpages.com. "Beyond early-bird specials and mistletoe, it appears the holiday season also brings with it a tendency to gunk up the pipes."
"It starts at noon before Thanksgiving dinner and continues through Friday," said Mike Haddad, owner of FMCO Plumbing in Pasadena, Calif. Haddad expected his plumbers to service 40 to 50 kitchen sinks on Thanksgiving and the same number on the following Friday. On a normal day, FMCO unclogs 10 to 15 sinks.
The main culprit, Haddad said, is grease, followed by eggshells, potato peels and celery fibers.
"All of December will be busy," Haddad said. "Everybody wants to finish their big cooking projects before the holidays."
The Yellowpages.com Nationwide Network includes Yellowpages.com, AOL Yellow Pages, Switchboard, Yahoo! Local, Yahoo! Yellow Pages and AnyWho.