Indoor plumbing may date back to at least 2,500 B.C., but the problems that homeowners face today likely weren’t around back then. For example, needing an emergency plumber. There are several reasons to contact an emergency plumber that aren’t necessarily the homeowner’s fault like weather or just the age of a home. But mistakes happen, which may require a plumbing contractor to fix them.

To help you avoid committing one of these mistakes, we’ve outlined a few of the more common ones that homeowners suffer from. Here are a few of the more common mistakes that will lead you to call plumbing services:

Using The Garbage Disposal Too Much
A garbage disposal, despite the name, is not a place where you should put all your food waste. In truth, a lot of it simply doesn’t fit and will clog the system. The blades will stop turning, and then you’ll have to contact a plumbing contractor to get them unstuck. Items like potato peels and large or tough food scraps should never go into the garbage disposal.

Overusing Drain Cleaning Chemicals
This might come as a surprise, but drain cleaner is actually not good for your drains. They’re very strong, very heavy-duty, cleaning products. They remove clogs but can involve extremely harsh chemicals that can damage pipes and wear them away.

Don’t feel the need to use drain cleaner on clogged toilets or pipes, either. In these situations, you should contact a plumber. Sometimes things are simply out of your hands, and you’d best turn to a professional to handle the issue.

Leaving The Hose Connected In Winter
This is a very common mistake, but you should always disconnect your garden hose in the winter. You could even turn off the water line that leads to your outdoor spigot. Not doing this can lead to a pretty devastating indoor flood, as the pipes can freeze and burst.

Taking a few minutes to disconnect the outdoor plumbing and water lines can save you a disaster and a need to call an emergency plumber. Do this before the first hard freeze and you should be just fine.

Being a homeowner is a difficult thing, especially if you’re new at it. You want to make sure that you do everything in your power to avoid the little mistakes, like the ones above. Doing so will save you a lot of headaches in the future.