How to Unblock a Drain | Tips and Tricks from the Pros

Clogged drains are more than a mere frustration for homeowners. They smell foul, are a health hazard, and cost money to fix, adding to the costs of homeownership. While we can’t promise to give you tips to guarantee that you will never deal with another clogged drain, we can teach you some DIY tips and tricks to unclog your drain and save some cash. Before we get into that, let’s first see why drains clog.

Understanding the Common Causes of Blocked Drains

Clogged drains are caused by several things. Some of the common causes for blocked drains include the following:

Tree Roots

While mature trees add to the aesthetics and value of a home, their proximity to your water and sewer lines can spell trouble. Tree roots can find their way through sewer line cracks and continue growing. This narrows the sewer pipes over time creating a blockage, disallowing water to run through.

Hair, Toilet Paper and Baby Wipes

Thick and quilted toilet paper isn’t safe in all toilets. If yours isn’t designed for these, then flushing these can cause blockages. Similarly, baby wipes also tend to cluster together. Once they do and are lodged along the sewer line, it becomes very easy to get a blockage. The same case goes for hair and pet fur. These can build up, tangle, and attract grease and grime causing blockages. This can be avoided by placing guards on drains to trap human and pet hair.

Leaves

If you have trees taller than your roof, leaves and other vegetative debris from the tree will land on your roof on windy days and storms. These will be blown or washed into your gutters, and then into your drains.

Poor Workmanship

Drains are designed to take advantage of gravity. This means installing on a downward slope. With some poorly designed drains, you find pipes lying flat or sloping upwards. This impedes drainage and causes backups and overflows.

How to Unblock a Drain Using Effective DIY Methods

Let’s check some quick fixes for simple drain blockages that most people could do.

Plunging

This works pretty well for kitchen and bathroom sinks and even toilets. A plunger creates sanction and force which helps dislodge the blockage, allowing water to flow through the pipe again. You can do the same with your toilet. Start by filling the bowl with water before plunging with a hang plunger.

Hot Water

This is a quick effective remedy for kitchen sinks. A major culprit for kitchen sink blockages is food particles and grease. Hot water down the drain works by melting down the grease and debris so it moves through the pipe. Simply boil water and pour it down the drain, wait a couple of minutes before turning on the faucet to check if water is flowing again.

Chemicals

Chemicals like Sulphur acid and caustic soda can also be used to unblock certain types of drains. This process involves pouring either chemical down the drain and then giving it time to work before flushing the system. This is done by pouring hot water down the drain. Keep in mind that these chemicals are corrosive, and they should be a last resort and kept to a small amount. They also require careful handling and protective gear.

Vinegar and Baking Soda

Vinegar and baking soda are excellent, natural products that make effective substitutes for sulphuric acid and caustic soda. Here, pour half a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by half a cup of vinegar. Cover the drain and let this sit for 30 minutes before pouring hot water
down the drain.

The Best Tools and Products for DIY Drain Cleaning

While DIY drain unclogging doesn’t require you to have industrial tools, it does help to have some simple, yet effective tools to get the job done. Here are some of the key ones.

Plungers

Plungers are affordable and are a lifesaver when it comes to quick and easy DIY drain
unclogging. Have a cup plunger for flat drains like the kitchen sink and the bathtub. Similarly, have a flange plunger for the toilet.

Chemical or Natural Cleaners

Chemical cleaners work exceptionally first but are corrosive and can pose health hazards. On the other hand, natural cleaners are mild but get the job done. Baking soda and vinegar are the most common natural cleaners and odour busters, yet they are non-corrosive, safe, and even edible, so you likely have them in your pantry anyway.

Drain Snake

For tougher clogs, plungers and natural cleaners won’t cut it, so you need to bring out the big guns. This is the drain snake. Drain snakes are drain-unclogging cables that can be up to 25 feet long. These are fitted with a corkscrew-like spring on one end. To use a cock drain, you drive it down a drain, and the corkscrew end snags the matter obstructing the drain, allowing you to pull it out, by retracting the snake drain.

When to Call the Pros: Recognizing Stubborn Blockages

As important as it is to have some DIY hacks under your belt, it’s just as important to know when a job is too big to DIY. As a rule of thumb, call a blocked drain plumber when a clog becomes persistent, you have dirty water backing up from your toilet, you have a tree near your drainage
pipes, and when your drains are in hard or dangerous places. If you have questions regarding your plumbing or a pestering plumbing problem, reach out to us at Rockingham Drain Cleaning today.