Why is my drain clogged?
Having a drain in your home become clogged is part of having indoor plumbing. It is possible for you to troubleshoot the problem and develop routines that can help prevent them from reoccurring. The first step in avoiding trouble with clogged pipes is learning their causes.
Bathroom Sinks
Most of the time your bathroom’s clogged pipes are a result of skin flakes, dirt, hair, and soap scum becoming attached to the walls of a pipe. Over a period of time, all of these things can build up to a point where water flow is significantly decreased or simply stops. You should begin to address the problem by removing and cleaning the sink stopper. If this doesn’t work, you should attempt using a plunger. When this doesn’t work your next option is removing a drain elbow joint and clean it. If none of this works, it’s time to call a professional. To prevent this, it’s important to regularly clean the sink stoppers. It’s also important you use a hair strainer to cover the drains in a bathroom. This is good for trapping hair before it can get into the pipes and cause problems.
Kitchen
Clogs in kitchen piping can result from oil or grease and other things caking on the pipe’s walls. Other items that add to this situation are food particles, soap scum from detergents. Over a period of time, this can result in a huge blockage in pipes. One of the first things you should do is run very hot water down the sink. This will soften the items that have built up in the pipes. The next thing you should do is add a bit of dish detergent and additional hot water. After a few minutes, you should use a plunger. If this is done a few times without success, it may be time to call a professional. They will be able to determine if the kitchen plumbing was properly designed and installed. To prevent this situation from happening again, it’s important to dispose of kitchen grease by letting solidify. It should then be put into a plastic bag and put into the garbage.
Toilets
The blockage in the piping for a toilet is usually a result of people attempting to flush items down the toilet that are not able to dissolve or break apart in water. This includes feminine hygiene products, diaper wipes, cotton swabs, dental floss and more. When a toilet is blocked, the first thing to do is try and use a plunger to get the water flowing again. There are plungers designed to shoot jets of water to clear a blockage. The next thing you can do is use a hand auger. This is designed to reach down up to five feet. It’s not a pleasant thing to use, but it can be effective. If this doesn’t work, your next step should be to call a licensed plumber.
Pipe Slope
The pipe slope in a home determines how effective water will carry waste from the home to the sewer line. Should a home’s piping have too much slope, the water will move too fast. This will result in waste material being left behind in the pipes. This waste material will build up over a period of time. This can create a blockage. If a home’s piping doesn’t have enough slope, the water and waste material will sit in the piping. The sitting waste material will develop into a blockage. This could result in a constant odor of raw sewage being in your home. The only way to handle this situation is to hire a plumbing professional. They can remove the blockages with a plumbers’ snake, and the piping can be flushed with water. A plumber will be able to fix your home’s pipes, so they are at the proper slope.
