Dealing with Holiday Mishaps

Murphy's Law of holiday home repairs states that clean carpets will get stained, unclogged drains and toilets will get clogged, and the power will go out (but never during the day). Thankfully, HomeAdvisor can help you break Mr. Murphy's Law.

We polled homeowners and they responded that stained carpets, clogged toilets and disposals, electrical power outages, and oven failures were the home repair emergencies they encountered most during the holidays. And while you can't always prevent such mishaps there are a few things you can do to overcome them.

1. Carpet Stains
Most homeowners will buy a handful of pre-made carpet cleaning solutions to deal with the stains, but you can accomplish the same results with fewer chemicals by making your own solutions. Before you do anything you need to know whether your carpets are synthetic or natural-fiber. If you have synthetic carpets it's important to know that you should never directly pour the cleaning solution on the carpet. Instead, dip a cloth in the solution and apply it to the stain. Synthetic Carpet Solutions: detergent (1/4 teaspoon dish detergent + one cup warm water); vinegar (one cup white vinegar + two cups water); solvent (use nail-polish remover or oil solvent). Natural-Fiber Solutions: detergent (one teaspoon dish detergent + one cup warm water); vinegar (1/4 cup white vinegar + 1/4 cup water); ammonia (one tablespoon ammonia + 1/2 cup warm water); solvent (nail-polish remover or oil solvent).

2. Clogged Toilets
Few things are more embarrassing than a clogged toilet. Aside from breaking out the plunger there are a few things you can do to prevent and deal with a clogged toilet. If you have an older house with older pipes, having them scoped before the holidays can be the preventative maintenance you need to keep them clog free. If you've noticed that your toilet has been slow or struggles to flush everything in one flush, have a plumber come on out to take a look at what could be causing the problem. Of course, it's always a good idea to have a plunger in every bathroom just in case.

3. Clogged Garbage Disposals
The best thing you can do to prevent a clogged disposal is to know what not to put down it. Avoid putting eggshells, potato peels, coffee grounds, rice, pasta, asparagus, celery, carrot peels and anything else hard, fibrous or gummy down the disposal. If it's been backing up it's probably a good idea to have a plumber come take a look at it.

4. Power Outages
Between holiday lights and decorations, your home's electric system rarely gets taxed as much as it does during the holidays. Be prepared by having plenty of flashlights and candles ready and familiarize yourself with how to turn on a tripped circuit breaker.

Being prepared to deal with emergency home repairs is half the battle. And we all know that as soon as you prepare for something, it won't happen!