Everyone has experienced a clogged drain at some point in time. These drains can usually be cleaned out with a plunger or a drain cleaner, but there are sometimes when it cannot. Most often, these are the cases where the clog is reoccuring. If that’s the case, you should call a professional plumber in Pittsburgh to go after the offending clog with a drain snake.
Snaking a clogged drain is usually an effective solution, but you still need to figure out why your drains keep clogging in order or you to stop the problem before it gets too big and expensive for you to handle. Here are some reasons why your drain is always needing snaked.
Sending the Wrong Things down the Drain
The most common reason why your drain is constantly clogged is because you’re putting the wrong things down them. Fortunately, it’s also the easiest problem to fix. Other common causes are rice, vegetable peels, and other food particles. Grease should be poured into a jar and be recycled or thrown out with the trash, and vegetable peels should be thrown out or composted. Uneaten food should go down the garbage disposal, not the drain.
If it’s your bathtub or shower drain that is constantly clogged, the culprit is most likely hair and dead skin. A plastic plumbing snake or drain cleaner is usually enough to take care of that problem.
Meanwhile, toilets are often clogged when people flush the wrong items. As a rule, the only things that should ever be flushed down your toilet are toilet paper and human waste. Anything else will cause problems and clog your line.
Going Too Long Without Snaking Your Drains
Of course, you can be extremely diligent about what goes down your drains and still experience the occasional clog. Soap scum, grease, and other materials can build up in pipes and drains over time, which is why you should contact a plumber every few years to take a look at your pipes and clear them out as needed. Think of this as preventive maintenance, something that could prevent a costly repair in the future.
Most relatively simple clogs will respond well to a plumbing snake, but more stubborn clogs may require hydro jetting. Hydro jetting involves spraying a high-pressure stream of water down your drain to break apart clogs and wash away debris. Powerful hydro jetting can even get rid of tree roots that are clogging a sewer line. Snakes generally do well against clogs that are closer to the surface, while hydro jetting works best for clogs that are deeper in a pipeline. Your plumber will be able to determine whether your clogged drains call for a snake or a hydro jet.
In any case, it’s always better to call a local plumber as soon as you suspect that you have a problem that you cannot solve yourself. It’s much easier to clear out a small clog than have to replace your home’s plumbing system.