You may not realize how important your drains are until one of them gets a nasty clog. Unfortunately, it’s all too common for any type of drain to clogged, whether it’s a sink drain, floor drain, sewer line, grease trap… you get the picture.
If it’s part of the drainage system, just using it will create conditions that lead to clogs. And that’s if you’re using it properly. Putting things that don’t belong in drains—or if a line gets obstructed by freezing or a tree root—will certainly lead to problems.
When you’ve got a badly clogged drain, it’s natural to look around for a quick fix. But using the wrong solution to unclogging a drain can be ineffective at best and damaging at worst.
Chemical drain cleaners come to mind right away when you think about unclogging a drain. That’s due to their large marketing budgets much more than their effectiveness. In reality, chemical drain cleaners can damage your pipes or septic system. The active ingredients in liquid plumber soften PVC pipe, eat away enamel, and even severely corrode metal pipes. Not only that, but a chemical drain cleaner is often toxic, both to people and to the environment. Finally, the biggest knock against chemical drain cleaner is that it’s just ineffective against many types of clog.
Baking soda and vinegar is a common “home remedy” type solution to clogged drains. On paper, it makes sense. Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid; when the two are combined, you get a fizzy chemical reaction that has some properties that can eat away at a clog. However, when you use this combination to unclog a drain, it’s just plain ineffective. Often, this solution is used in combination with boiling water, which, on its own, can be effective at unclogging some drains. Leave the baking soda and vinegar in the kitchen.
If you’ve been around any workplace long enough, you’re sure to see plenty of jerry-rigged tools to get stuff done. Duct tape, Flex Seal, grit, and determination can get a lot done, but using a jerry-rigged tool to unclog your drain is a bad idea. Shoving something long and pointy down the drain might sometimes work, but you run the larger and much more costly risk of damage your pipes—or even getting something stuck in your pipes or drain. We’ve seen countless home made DIY tools backfire and add to the cost of clearing a drain.
If a drain is clogged, one of your first reactions might be to pour more water down to unclog it. In the case above where we mentioned boiling water, it can help with some clogs. If the clog is fat-based, the boiling water and help melt and flush the clog. But, if you have a clogged up drain and adding water doesn’t work, which is often the case, then you’ve just added more troubles to your situation. Finally, pouring boiling down a drain can damage PVC pipes; pouring it down a clogged toilet can crack the porcelain or melt the wax ring that seals it to the floor.
Professional drain tools like snakes or water jets are extremely effective at clearing clogged drains. However, in the hands of people who aren’t professionals, they can do more harm than good. If you’re not trained or experienced in using professional drain tools, you can seriously damage your pipes and create a lot more work and expense to get your drains running well again.
Effectively unclogging a drain does depend on what drain it is and what’s likely clogging it.
If your kitchen drain is clogged, hot water followed by a degreaser like liquid dish detergent can help loosen up and dissolve a fat-based clog. However, this method will not work for cleaning a grease trap.
A plunger is actually a very effective means for unclogging many drains. The humble plunger creates a vacuum effect when used properly—getting a good seal the entire way around, firmly pushing down, and then firmly pulling back up—that can dislodge many smaller physical obstructions.
If your drain clog is more serious or complicated, then you should probably call a professional. As outlined above, many do-it-yourself remedies can lead to paltry results at best and actual damage at worst. With how important they are, it’s often wisest to spend a little bit of money to unclog a drain right.
Easily set up an appointment or get help using the form. If you need us right away, call us at (315) 699-7255.
