How to Unclog Drains
May 12, 2008 in Plumbing
There are numerous ways you might want to unclog a drain you might not know where to start. Unclogging a drain is very important because if you don’t it could potentially lead to a burst pipe once winter arrives. Not only that but blocked drains smelt somewhat un pleasant to say the least plus of course then also cease to do what they were intended for.
The simplest method of unblocking a drain is probably just to pour down some hot water. Sometimes drains just get a little bit clogged with bits of food and grease, so hot water will be enough to dissolve or move it away.
If however the drain is totally blocked then there are some other options available to you and they don’t have to cost you a fortune.
Plungers are a familiar site underneath a kitchen or bathroom sink. They can be used to increase the amount of pressure which is in the pipe and this can then encourage the offending materials out. However if you have a clogged drain in winter then you need to be very careful about this method. Often what happens in very low temperatures is that the pipes become blocked with ice and when you use a plunger you will make things even worse and possibly burst the pipe.
Blockages that appear in the u-section under a kitchen skin can often be a little more tricky. It might be that you need to remove this section of pipe so that you can remove whatever material that is causing you problems. This doesn’t take long to do at all and you don’t need any advanced plumbing skills. Just remember to turn the water off so that you don’t cause a flood.
Although when you replace the pipe you need to make sure that you do this correctly and doesn’t use something unsuitable such as glue. You should use a plumber’s tape which is what it’s intended for.
Another option open to you is to use a chemical drain cleaner which will dissolve all sorts of things like grease and hair plus food. Once you have done this you then pour hot water down which flushes everything away. This technique can be used on all types of modern plumbing without any problems.
If you would like to try something a bit more environmentally friendly you can give bicarbonate of soda and vinegar a try. If they blocked has been caused by a build up of calcium carbonate then this tick does very well.
With the larger more tricky jobs that the plunger has failed on, you can use a product called a plumber’s snake. So give it a go on blocked kitchen sinks and toilets that you can’t find the solution to with the other unclogging techniques.
Although people often do more harm than good when doing DIY jobs around the home, it’s well worth trying to unclog a drain yourself before you call out a plumber. Clogged drains are often considered to be emergency jobs and if you call out an emergency plumber you can expect to pay premium prices for the privilege. Often the plumber will just try out the techniques themselves anyway so you might as well give it a go.