One of the most nerve-racking events in the life of a homeowner or renter is a sink with slow drainage. Every day that your drain pipes get worse, the feeling of “What do I do now?” becomes magnified, especially when you have multiple drains on the fritz. It’s important to examine some of the reasons why pipes can get stopped up and learn how to address the problem.
Be Careful What You Put Down the Kitchen Drain
A sure way to get a backed-up sink is to put the wrong thing down the garbage disposal. Some substances can make the disposal stop in its tracks. Small food items like rice seem like they shouldn’t cause a problem due to their size. Wrong. Rice is a top drain stopper when it comes to your slow drainage halting all together.
Other types of food that should never be put down the drain, disposal side or not, include noodles, potato peels, and melon rinds. Any bones are also a definite “NO!” The consistency and thickness of many foods cannot be tolerated by the blades and often the motors of many garbage disposals.
To put anything other than liquid down a regular sink is a call to the drain cleaning professional just waiting to happen. When in doubt, compost or wrap up your food scraps and put them in the trash.
Signs of a Clogged Bathroom Drain
Running water in any sink in your home should be a smooth, problem-free event. If you find your bathroom draining slowly, it’s often due to hair going down the drain. A fast solution is a hair catcher. Many varieties can be easily wiped out after each shower or bath. That’s a lot less headache than finding your tub filling up with water every time you take a shower because everyone’s hair has gone down the drain.
To fix a stopped drain, plunging your tub sometimes helps, but it may be necessary to snake out the clog. The process is safer and can go a lot quicker when someone who has experience does it. Calling a drain cleaning service will have you back in the shower again soon without water rising to your ankles or higher.
A slow-draining bathroom sink is not as serious as a clogged tub or shower, but it can be irritating. Often, it just takes cleaning out the drain stopper without even removing the stopper itself. Other times, the U-joint will need to be removed and the rest of the connecting pipes snaked out, depending on the degree of slow drainage.
What is Hydro Jetting?
Whatever is causing your slow drainage can be figured out quickly in most cases. Hydro jetting can be a drain professional’s magic wand. It can be used for a clogged kitchen sink or bathroom drains, but it is usually used for commercial plumbing. The powerful stream of water forces most clogs to move through the pipes as they should.
Find the Problem with a Video Camera Inspection
When hydro jetting and other regular diagnostic and treatment methods don’t work, video surveillance will get down deep where a regular plumbing snake won’t go. An inspector inserts a small camera into the drainpipes of your home or the sewer line outside to let the professional know where the clog is located and how bad it is.
If you’re having drainage issues, reach out to us at Dan’s Drains and Digs. We can get rid of your clogs, so everything works as it should.