Most homeowners, at one time or another, have to deal with a
sewer or drain blockage over the years. Often, this is a small clog that can be easily removed, but sometimes the situation can be far worse. A major sewer line clog can cause a host of problems in your home, and it should be avoided. One of the best ways to do this is by performing preventative maintenance and exercising care when using your drain. Here are three top tips that you can easily follow to help to protect your drains.
- Get Rid of the Fog:
What is fog? This is a term for substances, such as oil, grease and fat, mixed with other debris that are all very harmful to your drain. It may seem like these substances are merely moving down your drain easily, but this is an illusion. What’s actually happening is that they travel further into your pipes and then solidify as they cool. Then other debris, such as food, more oils, and other waste, stick to the blockage and form the fog. The clog will slowly increase in size, until it may even need to be cleared with heavy duty professional equipment. This can be avoided, simply let these substances solidify, then throw them out and don’t put them down the drain.
- Ponder Your Problematic Pasta:
Pasta tastes great, but it may come as a surprise to many homeowners that it can clog drains. As we all know, pasta expands when it’s exposed to water during the cooking process. When you use the garbage disposal to deal with your unwanted pasta, it could expand in the water and form a substantial clog. Over time, it could even become large enough to back up the drains, and this is why it’s a good idea to throw out pasta waste.
- Take Care with Drain Cleaners:
There are many commercially available drain cleaners on the market that promise the world in cleaning performance. Actually, many store bought drain cleaners contain chemicals that may even cause more harm than good for your drains. These cleaners have ingredients that are very toxic, and they can even cause corrosion in your pipes. Eventually, this may lead to leaks that could be expensive to repair or even result in pipe replacement. It should also be considered that many of these chemical cleaners, also leave some of the clog behind and you will have to deal with the problem again in a couple of months. The best way to get your pipes really clean is to
schedule a professional drain cleaning, and then you can be sure that your system is working well.
As you can see, the health of your drains can be improved by following these three simple tips. Prevention is always better and cheaper than the alternative when it comes to your pipes and drains. A regularly scheduled cleaning will also keep your system free from clogs and catch any issues before they get a chance to develop into something that will be harder and more expensive to fix.
By Giovanni Longo President Flood Brothers Plumbing
Giovanni Longo is a 3rd generation master plumber who has been practicing his craft and trade in the greater Los Angeles area for well over a decade and a half. A plumbing and hydraulics-engineering innovator, Giovanni’s particular world-class expertise focuses on dealing with challenging sewer system designs as well as resolving complex commercial and residential draining issues. As a certified Flood Mitigation expert, he is also well versed in a wide variety of water damage and remediation solution.
