The Ultimate Guide to Unclogging Your Drains

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The Ultimate Guide to Unclogging Your Drains
Signs Of A Clogged Drain
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Table of Content

• Signs of a Clogged Drain.
• What Clogs Your Drain.
• Methods to Use.
• Tools that You May Need.
• Dos and Donts.
• Why You Need Experts.
• When You Need to Do More than Unclogging Your
  Drains.
• The Wrap.

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introduction

• At home, there are a number of home repairs that
  call for immediate attention. One of them happens
  to be clogged drains. Genuinely, a blocked drain
  can be a nuisance if you dont attend to it soon.
  You have to stop everything you are doing and
  think of how to decongest the blocked pipes.
  While it may be a convenient thing to call your
  local handyman, some fixes are purely DIY.
• It is highly recommended that you learn to
  distinguish between a DIY project and one that
  call for expert input. If you do it yourself,
  youll save yourself a lot of time and more
  importantly, money. But first, you have to
  diagnose the problem and devise a better way to
  handle it.
• Here is an ultimate guide that will get you
  equipped.

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Signs of a Clogged Drain

• You can know if your drains are clogged by
  identifying the following signs
• Slow Drainage When your sink or bathtub channel
  is draining slowly, this is an indicator that
  your pipes are clogged. You need to address the
  issue at this stage before the pipes fail to
  drain completely. The sign is usually obvious on
  the sink since you easily notice it when it
  starts to drain slowly. However, you have to take
  a keen eye on the bathtub. If its the toilet,
  youll notice that it takes too long to flush.
  You shouldnt take such a sign lightly since it
  may lead to something serious.
• Bad Smell If there is an odor coming from your
  drain, this is a possible indicator that the
  pipes are blocked. The clog normally attracts
  bacteria that produce the bad smell. The other
  source of the bad smell is mildew that builds up
  due to the accumulation of organic deposits.
  Besides, the humid condition facilitates their
  growth.
• Rust Lastly, if your metallic pipes show some
  signs of rust, this can be an indicator that the
  drain is clogged. In such a case, you can only
  hope that the congestion is not extensive. You
  need to unblock the pipes as soon as you see the
  rust deposit. If you are not sure, just call an
  expert.

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What Clogs Your Drain

• Bathroom Sink When it comes to the bathroom
  sink, the main source ofclogging is hair. The
  others are toothpaste and soap scum.
• Kitchen Sink The kitchen sink is mostly blocked
  by FOG (fats, oils, and grease). The other
  possible causes are food products such as coffee
  grounds, vegetable parts, and fruit peels.
• The Shower This is mostly blocked by hair, dirt,
  dead skin, and scum. You can always know that the
  shower is blocked when it starts to drain slowly.
• Garbage Disposer The garbage disposer is mostly
  blocked by food items such as eggshells, potato
  peels, carrot peels, noodles, rice, and fibrous
  veggies.
• The Toilet Possible sources of clogging include
  wipes, dental floss, and feminine products
  (tampons and pads).

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Methods to Use

• There are a number of techniques that you can use
  at home to unblock your drains but here are 7 of
  the easiest ones
• 1. Boiling Water
• This is among the fastest ways of unblocking your
  drains. Its not great with dislodging grease
  clogs and soap suds but will clear kitchen waste
  and sewage blockage. You have to be careful,
  however, with where you are pouring hot water.
  Its not recommended for PVC pipes since it may
  damage them. So, you should use it on metal
  pipes. You need to boil water in a kettle and
  pout it directly to your blocked drain.
• 2. Drain Snake
• A drain snake is a long PVP pipe that is flexible
  to bend easily. You can buy it from your local
  hardware. It has to be long enough to dislodge
  the clog to the other end of the drain. The
  technique is very effective when the clogging
  agent is hair, a piece of fabric or any other
  lightweight material. Alternatively, you can make
  your own drain snake form a wire hanger and
  auger. Youll,however, need to be careful with
  this approach so as not to damage your drain
  pipes.

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• 3. Commercial Cleaner
• There are so many drain cleaners on the market
  that you can buy. You need to buy the one that is
  suited for your drain. If you are not sure what
  reagent to use, you should talk to your storeman.
  Before you use any chemical cleaner, its
  necessary to read the manufacturers
  instructions. This will help you know how to
  better apply the chemical and what safety
  measures to take. Lastly, you need to wait for
  the specified time before trying to flush your
  drain.
• 4. Baking Soda Vinegar
• Instead of buying a commercial cleaner from the
  store, you can make your own at home using ½ cup
  baking soda and 1 cup vinegar solution. So many
  plumbing experts use this technique because its
  quite effective, more so when the clog is grease
  or related things. To unblock the drain
• Pour the baking soda directly into the blocked
  drain.
• Follow it up with vinegar.
• Close the drain to allow the reagents to work.
  You should skip this step if its a blocked
  toilet and flush instantly.
• For other drains, pour hot water to flush out the
  reagent after 30 minutes of action.

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•  
• 5. Bacterial Products
• Since pouring hot water into a drain that is
  clogged with grease may make the clog to go
  further down your drain without decongesting the
  pipe, you should try this approach. The products
  are also known as biological enzyme cleaners and
  are suited for organic clogs. The cleaner
  introduces bacterial cultures which digest the
  grease clog thus reducing its size. Because of
  their effectiveness, these cleaners are costlier
  than the conventional drain cleaners.
• 6. Plunging
• There are two types of plungers toilet plunger
  and cup plunger (suited for the sinks). The cup
  plunger allows you to place it directly on the
  mouth of your drain when decongesting it.
  Plunging is generally an easy technique provided
  that you have the right tool. You need to put the
  tool on the drain and apply some pressure to pull
  what is blocking your drain. It works through
  suction.

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• 7. Salt Hot Water Technique
• This technique is effective when dealing with
  soap and FOG clogs. You can use it to decongest
  your bathtub or the kitchen drain. You need to
• Pour ½ cup table salt or sea salt down your
  blocked drain.
• Follow it up with 2 liters of hot water.
• You can repeat the procedure severally till your
  drain is unblocked. The technique will work
  because of two reasons. To begin with, the hot
  water acts as a melting agent that reduces the
  size of the clog. Secondly, the salt acts as a
  scouring substance that forces the clogs out of
  the drain.

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Tools that You May Need

• Here are 5 major tools that you need to perform
  the above techniques
• Auger This is a clog removal DIY tool that you
  use to decongest your toilet or sink drain. It
  works with a long wire.
• Plunger This is used to suck and dislodge food
  particles and lightweight materials trapped in
  your sink drain.
• Boiling kettle Youll need this appliance to
  boil water that youll use to unblock your
  bathtub or kitchen sink.
• Long wire This is used to make a mini drain
  snake that you can use to unblock your
  slow-moving drain.
• Long pipe This serves the same purpose as the
  drain wire, only that its more forceful.

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Dos and Donts

• The Dos
• Use an effective strainer to help you trap
  materials that will block your drain. You can buy
  the accessory from any store that deals with
  plumbing and heating accessories.
• Clean the drain stoppers regularly. You need to
  clean the feature each time you use your bathtub.
  Since its used to trap debris, some may find
  their way into the drain if you dont remove them
  in time.
• Have a routine maintenance program for your
  drains. This also brings us to the idea of
  visiting a plumbing and heating company for
  expert help. If your drains are regularly checked
  by an expert, its easier to avoid the repairs.
• Flush salt followed by hot water at least once a
  month into your kitchen sink to prevent blockage.

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• Donts
• Dont dispose of everything that looks like
  refuse to your garbage disposal. Things like
  eggshells, potato peels, and vegetables may block
  the drain resulting in expensive repairs.
• Dont pour FOG into your sink. Since the pipes
  are plastic or metallic, they easily cool the
  grease resulting in blockage.
• Dont flush anything that is not toilet paper.
  Even if the material is advertised as flushable,
  you shouldnt flush it down the toilet. Things to
  avoid include feminine products.
• Dont flush the toilet when its already blocked.
  It surely does not make any sense to do it.
  Instead of decongesting the drain, flushing will
  mess up your floor.
• Dont use hot water to dislodge FOG clogs. The
  water will push the clog further down the pipe
  instead of dislodging it.

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Why You Need Experts

• There are several reasons why you need a plumbing
  and heating expert. For example, there is no
  guarantee that the discussed methods will work
  with your drains if you choose to DIY. Sometimes,
  they fail if you are using the wrong technique or
  if you are doing the right technique incorrectly.
  Every so often, the clog is somewhere in the
  wall, far beyond your reach. Only an expert can
  know how to dislodge it. The first thing that the
  expert will do is to employ a sophisticated
  approach such as an advanced camera to diagnose
  the source of the problem. After this, the
  plumber will get straight into the unblocking
  process using cutting-edge techniques such as
  hydro-jetting or cable drain cleaning.

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When You Need to Do More than Unclogging Your
Drains

• Its important that you know your limit when you
  are fixing a draining issue at home. The cleaning
  chemicals that you buy or the ones that you make
  will only provide you with a short-term solution.
  If you dont take care of your drain and do not
  address the source of blockage, you should not be
  surprised when the clog comes back. Therefore,
  you need to adopt an effective preventive
  approach as briefly described here
• The Sink Whether its the kitchen sink or the
  bathroom sink, you need to keep it spotless. Make
  sure that the drain stopper is clean whenever
  materials are trapped there. If you are not
  careful, the materials will find their way into
  the drain. As for the kitchen sink, avoid
  disposing of hostile materials like bones, meat,
  and grease.
• The Shower You need to make sure that the drain
  stopper is clean so as to facilitate the free
  flow of water. Also, check for possible clogs
  such as soap scum and hair often to ensure that
  they dont end up blocking your drain. You should
  fit a hair strainer to ensure that hair is held.
• The Toilet When it comes to the toilet, you just
  need to know what is flushable and what isnt. Of
  course, the only thing to flush is toilet paper.
  Feminine products and other solid materials
  should not be flushed. If something solid like a
  toy or a coin drops into your toilet, you need to
  remove it immediately.

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The Wrap

• When you know what is clogging your drain, you
  can easily prevent it. Equally, when you know how
  to fix the issue, you are able to save money at
  the end of the day. This guide has the basics
  that you need to become your own handyman.
  However, when the problem becomes too
  complicated, just call Smile Heating and Cooling
  experts. They are always committed to excellent
  services. Call them today and experience a rare
  combination of excellent job, fair prices, and
  caring services.

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The end

• Find out more at
• https//smile-hvac.ca/regina-plumbing/