Clogged Drains? The Top Five Home Plumbing Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make!
“I thought I could handle it!” Steve R, a resident of the Greater Chicago area said. “My wife told me the kitchen sink wasn’t draining, so I got some drain cleaner and poured it down the drain. Problem solved, right? At least until my son flushed the toilet and it backed up on him. That’s when I knew I was in trouble!”
Clogged drains and obstructed sewer lines are not uncommon plumbing problems. Unfortunately, many Chicagoland homeowners don’t know how to handle the messy, stinky issue of clogged drains. They try, but they make mistakes. Here’s the top five home plumbing mistakes that you don’t want to make:
Mistake #1: Not Using Your Plunger Properly
Many household clogs can be resolved with the strategic use of your plunger. Plungers are really ingenious low-tech tools. By creating a vacuum within your home’s sewer or drain lines, plungers harness the power of suction to dislodge clogs. Plungers work particularly well on clogs that are located close to the drain site. Try using your plunger to dislodge the clog. This can be messy and unpleasant, but it will allow you to get the problem fixed without having to call your plumber.
Mistake #2: Too Much Faith In Chemical Drain Cleaners
The chemical drain cleaners available to the general public at grocery stores and department stores promise a lot. They are effective at dissolving small clogs located close to the drain site, but they work slowly. Often, as in Steve’s case, these chemical drain cleaners don’t completely alleviate the problem. A clog can be dissolved just enough to slip further down the pipe, where it joins up with other accumulated debris and causes a bigger problem. Additionally, some chemical drain cleaners are extremely harsh on the environment.
Mistake #3: Trusting “Home Remedies” To Fix Your Clogged Drain
Hot water down the drain, solutions containing vinegar and baking soda, and heating drain lines to ‘melt’ the clog within are all purportedly tried and true remedies for clogged drains. However, these home remedies seldom actually fix the problem and can actually damage your home plumbing system. This will lead to more extensive, expensive repairs further down the road.
Mistake #4: Assuming the Worst Case Scenario
Some homeowners plunge into deep despair when they experience a clogged drain or backed up toilet, sure that an expensive excavation and repair job is in their immediate future. That may have been the case once, but plumbing technology has evolved. Now your (ANYTOWN) plumber can perform a visual inspection of your sewer lines, pinpointing exactly what’s causing the problem and what’s necessary to resolve it. This has greatly reduced the need for excavation. An increasing percentage of problems can be fixed ‘in line’ – even when tree roots penetrate your sewer lines. Don’t assume the worst until your (ANYTOWN) plumber has had a chance to examine the situation and discover what the problem really is!
Mistake #5: Skipping Regular Drain Cleaning
Regular drain cleaning should be part of your household’s regular maintenance routines. Organic debris accumulates in pipes over the course of time. Regular sewer drain cleaning and drain cleaning service removes this debris before it has a chance to build up into a problem clog. Additionally, regular drain cleaning allows you to identify any potential plumbing problems before they start. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure, particularly when it’s your home on the line!
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