How Professional Plumbers Go About Unclogging Drains

Okay, so you have a clogged drain and you know that you need to do something about it immediately. However, you are not exactly sure what to do, and you are a little worried about what will happen next. Don’t panic, these kinds of situations are bound to happen. You always want to have some sort of recourse with problems such as these, and we want to help explain your options moving forward.

Think about all the stuff you flush down your toilet or the waste materials that you send down your drain. How much toilet paper are you flushing down the toilet? What kinds of food are you sending down your garbage disposal? Whatever it is that’s causing the issue, a clogged drain can quickly become frustrating.

Although it is tempting to try and remove the clog on your own, you should always consider hiring a residential or commercial drain cleaning service. Why put yourself at risk when you can hire a professional to get the job done for you? Also, think about your past experience with drain cleaning. Are you sure that you can remove a clog without any professional assistance? At the very least, you should consult a professional plumber to help narrow down some of your options. Removing a blockage is never as simple as it seems.

If you do decide to undergo a DIY cleaning project, make sure the clog is localized. If the blockage originates inside your sewer line, then you will want to hire a professional plumber. They can undergo a camera inspection to determine the exact cause and location of the blockage. We also want to emphasize how important it is to avoid chemical cleaners. They will harm the environment, and they will damage your plumbing. They can also have negative effects on your health. As an alternative, we recommend that you use enzyme-based cleaners containing bacteria that eat away at organic waste material that is clogging your drain.

A commercial or residential plumber has immediate access to all the necessary tools and equipment to render you service. This includes several specialty tools that many of us don’t possess for ourselves. Also, why go out of your way to acquire and learn how to use those tools when you can hire professional drain cleaning and repair service?

Drains and sewer lines are going to become clogged up with decades of coagulated cooking grease, shampoo, and hair. It will get to a point where those simple solutions such as using a plunger will have no effect in removing the clog. Those tougher clogs will require special tools for you to get rid of them. This includes equipment that was only in its infancy just years ago. Here are some of the tools that are accessible to a professional plumber.

Drain snaking is becoming a lot more common among professional drain cleaning companies. It involves the use of a plumber’s snake, also known as an auger. The auger enters your plumbing system and from there you will manually crank the device until you encounter the clog. At the terminal end of the drain snake is a hook shaped like a corkscrew which will break up the obstruction. The hook rotates as you crank the drain snake, feeding deeper and deeper into the drain. We often recommend that you use a manual auger for minor clogs and clearing out debris so that water can successfully pass through.

A residential or commercial plumber will make use of a motorized drain snake when a manual one can’t get the job done. In most cases, you will need to insert the motorized drain snake directly into a cleanout that is outside your home or place of business (cleanouts are an access point to your sewer line). Motorized augers have a reach up to 150 feet and they can clear out any clogs or obstructions that are a lot tougher to remove.

A residential or commercial drain cleaning service will sometimes need to undergo a camera inspection. Let’s say the plumber you hired didn’t have any success removing the clog with a drain snake. Well, a camera inspection is the next logical step in the drain cleaning process. Most professional plumbing companies now have access to high-definition cameras that offer you high-resolution video renderings of the inner-workings of your plumbing system. This gives them a better idea of what they are dealing with when it comes to the interior structure of your plumbing. Camera inspections are highly efficient in locating clogs and providing your plumber with enough information to go about fixing the problem.

Although drain snaking and camera inspections are both viable methods, we cannot forget to mention hydro jetting. Hydro jetting is perhaps one of the most efficient ways to clear out your drain of any grease, debris, and other gunk that’s lodged inside your plumbing. Water Jetting involves the use of a highly pressurized water hose that effectively flushes out your system and removes any grease, soap, and other buildups inside your system. The pressurized water produced via hydro jetting achieves a psi (pounds per square inch) of 35,000. This is more than enough power to eliminate all of the filth and gunk collecting inside your drainage systems.

What we recommend is that you consult a drain cleaning specialist to help you narrow down your options moving forward. Drain snaking and hydro jetting will require professional assistance. DIY drain cleaning remedies often tend to backfire and they can end up costing you dearly if you are not careful. Wouldn’t you rather put your trust in a qualified professional instead of trying to solve the problem on your own without having any prior plumbing experience? It will make a world of difference to hire someone who knows what they are doing. And if you have any questions, you can always call us and speak with one of our technicians. They can tell you everything you need to know about professional drain cleaning solutions.