Drain Cleaning 101 for Homeowners from Your Trusted Timberlane, LA Plumbing Service

1/27/2020

Photo By Andrey_Popov at Shutterstock

Chances are good that you will experience a clogged drain at some point in your Timberlane, LA, home, so it makes sense to get a little bit of draining cleaning knowledge under your belt in case you need to call for plumbing service help. No matter how careful you are with what ends up in your drain, clogged drains are an all-too-eventual reality. That’s why drain cleaning help is in high demand with your local plumber. Let’s run down what you need to know about your drain to empower you with the know-how to spot a problem before it becomes an expensive and gross mess (like a backed-up kitchen sink).

What Causes Clogged Drains?

There are three common things that cause drains to become clogged. One of these, you can’t really control: the age of the drainpipes. Most drainpipes are fairly durable and have an extended service life. But that does not mean that they will last for centuries. The older your pipes get, the more prone they become to breaking and problems, including clogs, since food particles and other gunk builds up over time, narrowing the path that waste has to exit from your home.

The most common cause of clogged drains among Timberlane, LA, home owners is food, grease, and oil. Pasta and rice are really horrible offenders since they expand when they’re added to water. Oil and grease can solidify when they sit in the drain and become cool, which can create a hard-to-handle clog. Avoid the need to call out your plumbing service by not letting items like this get into your sink in the first place.

And last of all, another common cause of clogged drains is tree roots. They cause problems with sewer line breaks, which can indirectly intrude in your main lines and cause a huge and nasty mess. This is something you don’t want to deal with, so it’s a good idea to avoid planting any type of tree within close distance to your drain system and septic/sewer lines. This can spell big problems down the road and necessitate the need for a call to your local plumbing service.

Can You Treat a Clogged Drain Yourself?

Maybe. However, it is not advised that home owners take on the task if they don’t have to. Drain cleaners can be super caustic and hazardous and may lead to internal damage of your pipe system, making things even worse. What’s more, traditional plungers, if not employed properly, can also make things worse when waste that’s clogging the drain is forced even further into the pipe. This is a good place to mention that plungers for toilets are different than plungers designed for use on bathtubs and sinks. A toilet plunger has a flange on it that you should pull out before use. The other type of plunger has just a cup on the end with no flange. Don’t use the wrong type, since it can cause problems and will be ineffective in most cases anyway.

Nonetheless, you can take steps to ward off a call to your local plumbing service for emergency drain cleaning repairs and the expense they bring. Some of these include:

• Purchasing a good drain guard. Available for all drains, drain guard do just as the name suggests – they guard your drain’s openings from items ending up in the drain. This includes material like hair in the shower or food particles in the kitchen. Hair is the number one cause of tub and sink clogs, bar none, as your plumbing service professional will confess. No worries. A drain guard catches everything, so you can just clean it and pop hair and other items in the trash. These little pipe savers are quite inexpensive, running just a few dollars each, making them a great investment in the health of your drain system.
• Preventing problems with maintenance. When it comes to plumbing, an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure. To keep your plumbing system in good working order and avoid calling out for plumbing service help, it’s important that you practice preventative maintenance. For your drains, this involves watching out for blockages before they get out of hand. If you feel like your drain is clearing slower than usual, add baking soda to your drain, followed by vinegar. If there is a bit of buildup in the drain, this sometimes takes care of it. Call out your plumber if your sink starts backing up.
• Being careful of what you dispose of in your drains, including your toilet. Anything that’s flushed or rinsed away ends up in your drains and can lead to a blockage if it’s something that’s not meant to be flushed or rinsed. In the bathroom, avoid flushing sanitary napkins and tampon applicators, for example, and in the kitchen, toss food scraps and coffee grinds in the trash, not the sink.
• Investing in a garbage disposal. A garbage disposal grinds things up to make them easy to dispose of (but only approved disposable items, since it’s still hooked to the drain too). If you don’t have one, now is a good time to think about purchasing and installing one.

When to Call Your Plumbing Service for Help

Remember, if you’re not 100 percent sure about any of the DIY repairs you do around the home, don’t risk it, call your plumbing service instead. Although there’s a lot of satisfaction to be had in doing things yourself, there’s also the question of getting things done right without worrying about pipe or drain failure. Your home’s plumbing system is a tricky animal, so trust it to the pros.

Fortunately, clearing a drain is generally a simple matter that can be resolved quickly. This is especially true with bluefrog Plumbing + Drain in New Orleans. Our team uses special cameras to inspect your drain so that we can figure out where the problems lie quickly and efficiently.

Give us a call for all your plumbing needs in Timberlane, LA, and we’ll hop on over and take care of it fast. Call 504-229-4848 to schedule drain cleaning and other plumbing services today.