Clogged drains are usually due to the pileup of debris; this causes an abnormal flow of water through the pipes. You may think this is a simple plumbing problem that you can quickly remedy with a drain cleaner. But when left unfixed, clogged drains can lead to unpleasant odors, dirty water, leaks, flooding, and health risks.

There are also other causes your drain may clog. While many homeowners opt to wait out the water entirely from draining, our tips for today will help prevent clogged drains within your household, saving you time, money, and grief.

We hope that the information you find in today’s post will tell you what you need to know when it comes to maintaining a debris-free drain. These tips straight from expert plumbers will help keep the pipes in your home in tip-top shape preventing any causes for clogged drains.

Avoid the Hassle

You don’t realize how much work washing dishes is when you have to deal with clogged drains. Grease and grime stop the water from going down the drain, so the sink fills up. It goes without saying that clogged drains are a reason for a lot of inconvenience and hassle.

You can avoid this by taking drain cleaning steps. Before you know the do’s of drain cleaning, you also ought to learn the don’ts. This knowledge will help to clean your drain effectively.

Drain Cleaning Do’s

Call a Professional

Jetting out your sewer lines is best left to professionals. There are times when a blockage does not cause clogged drains in the drain, and it’s the sewer lines that are actually clogged.

Contact your local plumber to do an inspection. This check-up will ensure that if the issue lies within your sewer lines or not. If it is, the plumbers should jet the sewer lines clean.

High water pressure is used to jet sewer lines. Sewer jetting, as what it’s commonly called, clear out waste, debris, and any other material that could be causing the blockage. Although you can rent sewer jets, we don’t recommend sewer jetting on your own.

Plumbers, who are trained to operate this hardware, are the only ones who have the know-how and experience to use it. Not using sewer jets correctly can cause massive damage to the sewer lines, which is terrible news.

Another drain cleaner method is to snake out the pipes – and the best option for any homeowner is to have it done by a plumber. This service is affordable and can prevent you from accidentally damaging the pipes, and it’s a lot more inexpensive than replacing damaged pipes.

Clogged drains can happen in the shower, sink, and toilet. If your drain is clogged and you haven’t had a professional plumber inspect your pipes in a long time, then don’t wait any longer, schedule an inspection right away.

Drain Cleaning Don’ts

Avoid Store-Bought Drain Cleaner

While a store-bought drain cleaner can clear up the drain, it can also hurt your pipes.

The chemicals that are present in drain cleaners will do break down the junk and debris that cause the clog; however, these same chemicals also contribute to the disintegration of your pipes, which result will result in leaks and other serious plumbing problems.

And these problems are going to prove costlier than calling professionals. A professional plumber has the knowledge and tools to provide long-term solutions to your drain and plumbing problems.

Rather than using a drain cleaner, a tool that you can use as a homeowner is a drain snake. When the plunger can’t do the job, a drain snake might be able to finish it. It’s a coiled metal wire with an attached handle and a sharp drill end that seizes any obstruction in the drain.

There are drain snake models that are built with an electric motor, which makes them better at effectively catching any blockage; snake drains can also reach far down the drain. It’s cheap price tag and efficiency makes it a favorite plumbing tool for homeowners.

However, drain snakes should be used with caution. If you’re not handy, it can cause serious injury. The steel cable can also snap or get caught on junk, which can damage your pipes.