Tag Archives: drain snaking

The Importance of Regular Drain Cleaning for Every Homeowner

regular drain cleaning is beneficial for your drains.

How often should you clean the drainpipes in your home?

There are two ways homeowners can answer this question:

  • Homeowners can clean their drainpipes whenever one of the drains in the home becomes clogged.
  • Homeowners can have a schedule for cleaning their drains regularly.

Which of these two options is better?

To answer the question, you must know why your drains need cleaning in the first place, advises Specialized Houston Property Management. Simply put, drains need cleaning because of the debris collecting inside them. But where does this debris come from, and why does it build up inside the system?

Why do drains get clogged?

Drains become clogged when some of the waste that enters them is left behind inside the pipes. That is because wastewater often contains a lot of semi-solid and solid materials. This non-liquid content – such as human waste, soap scum or food particles – can stick inside the pipes.

It mostly happens when the semi-solid/solid waste is too much for the water inside the pipes to move. Or there may be insufficient water inside the pipes. But whatever the case, the effect is that water flows out of pipes while the non-liquid materials are left behind.

At first, only small amounts of materials are deposited inside the pipe. But as the process repeats and more debris is deposited in the pipe, the buildup rate gradually increases. That will continue until the point is reached where even water cannot flow through the pipe freely.

When this happens, you experience it as a clog in your home’s drains.

This natural process does not happen suddenly; it is gradual. Furthermore, it does not have to result in a clogged drain. The process only causes a clogged drain when homeowners are unaware of what is happening inside their drains.

How to clean your home’s drains

The majority of homeowners wait until the tail-end of the above process to clean their drains. They wait until a clog has already formed in the drains. There are many reasons why this plan is not the best one for your pocket or the function and longevity of your drains.

Clogs in your home’s drainage system subject the pipes to unnecessary stresses. Also, the trapped debris in the pipe contains toxins that can weaken pipe materials and compromise the structural integrity of your entire drainage system.

Additionally, it is economically inappropriate to wait until clogs form before attempting to clear them. There is an increased risk of damage to the pipes. In addition to the higher cost of clearing the clog, you may have to pay to repair your damaged pipes.

A routine cleaning program is a better plan for dealing with drain clogs. Why is that?

Regular drain cleaning and why it is important

Regular drain cleaning is a process of ongoing maintenance of your home’s drains. Instead of waiting until there is a problem before you clean your drains, you clean them regularly to prevent issues in the drainage system.

This process is proactive rather than reactive.

In other words, you are steps ahead of the problems in your drains and constantly taking measures to prevent them from worsening. This drain cleaning program actively looks for problems to solve them quickly and affordably.

a sewer camera inspection being performed on a drain line.

Usually, the entire drainage system of the home is inspected using a sewer camera inspection.

What is involved in a program of regular drain cleaning?

Typically, the entire process is done once a year and involves two essential steps:

  • Professional inspection of the drain: Usually, the entire drainage system of the home is inspected using a sewer camera inspection
  • Professional drain-cleaning service: The drain is cleaned by snaking or hydro-jetting the pipes. The two cleaning methods can also be deployed.

Benefits of regular drain cleaning

Prevent clogs and blockages

Instead of constantly striving to remove clogs from your pipes, regular cleaning helps prevent them. You will be treating the root cause of the problems and not just the symptoms.

Eliminate bad odors from your home

Clogged drains are a major source of bad odors. Regular cleaning will help remove the bacteria and decayed materials that cause bad odors.

Improve the efficiency of your drainage

Improved water flow, one of the natural outcomes of regular drain cleaning, helps to maximize the efficiency of your drainage system.

Extend the service life of your plumbing

Efficient drainage systems with proper water flow are less likely to have problems and more likely to exceed their projected lifespan.

You save money in the short- and long-term

Regular drain cleaning helps to lower the overall cost of maintaining your drainage systems. You also save money in the long run since you will avoid premature plumbing replacement.

To sum up: how often should you clean your home’s drains? Cleaning the drains should be done regularly. That is the only way to effectively combat the never-ending processes that cause clogs and blockages inside your drains. Any other method will be inefficient and costly.

Snaking vs Water Jetting: Which Drain Cleaning Should You Choose?

You have probably encountered this situation at least once in your life:

You know that mixture of irritation and dismay when you are standing inside the shower in your home with your feet half-buried in dirty bathwater. You are almost halfway through your usual routine of taking a shower, but this time something about the experience is different. The water washing down your body is collecting around your feet, instead of washing down the drain.

Snaking vs Water Jetting

This problem doesn’t only happen in the shower, you can also have the same issue with your kitchen sink. But the worst kind of drain clog to experience in the home is with the toilet. You remember that disgusting feeling of looking into the dirty water swirling inside the toilet bowl, as it slowly increases in volume with revolting human waste floating on its surface. 

Clearly, when you have these kinds of problems, you know your toilet or shower drain is clogged but what is the best way to solve the problem? If you are the typical homeowner, you will have a drain snake somewhere in the home. Your initial reaction will be to try to clear the blockage with the snake. Landlords usually do this too when they receive complains from tenants. But before you do that, you may want to read the rest of this post.

When to Use a Drain Snake and Why

A drain snake is one of the simplest tools for unclogging a drain. The beauty of drain snakes is they are easy to use and mostly don’t require a source of power. All that is needed is to pass the snake into the opening of the drain and prod or twist until the water starts flowing again. But in spite of their simplicity, drain snakes have certain flaws.

The problem with using a drain snake

  • The chief limitation of a drain snake is you can only use this method for clogs that are very close to the drain opening.
  • Secondly, drain snakes are completely ineffective for removing certain types of drain clogs. For instance, if the material clogging the drain is sludge or some kind of slurry a drain snake will not solve the issue. The most it can do is poke a hole in the blockage.
  • A drain snake can worsen the clog by pushing the obstruction further into the drain or jamming it tighter, thus making it harder to remove.
  • Using a drain snake can damage your pipes. If you push too hard with a drain snake you can weaken the joints in your drainpipes or even punch a hole in the pipe.

When should you use a drain snake?

Use a drain snake if:

  • The clog is not recurring. It is not a problem you encounter often. If the issue happens frequently, it has gone beyond what drain snaking can fix.
  • The cause of the clog is near the opening of the drain. If you can see the object blocking the drain, using a drain snake is a good way to unclog your drain.
  • Your pipes are not old. The risk of pipe damage via drain snaking increases with the age of your pipes. Older pipes have thinner walls that are likely to spring leaks after snaking.

You are probably wondering; if you cannot use a drain snake in these situations, what is the recommended method for unclogging a blocked drain?

Water Jetting and Why You Should Use It for Drain Cleaning

water-jetting-service

Water jetting is a drain cleaning technique that uses pressurized water. A high-pressure hose with a special nozzle at one end is inserted into the drain. The other end is connected to a machine that sends a powerful stream of water into the drain to clear clogs inside the pipes. Water jetting does not have all the shortcomings associated with drain snaking.

Pros of water jetting

  • Water jetting uses only water. There is no risk of a pointed tip poking a hole in your pipes as is the case with a drain snake.
  • Water jetting is effective for removing obstructions, no matter how deep inside the drain they are located. Water jetting will make small work of sludge and similar obstructions.
  • Water jetting will completely shear away tree roots that have invaded the pipes and balled up inside it.
  • You can use this water jetting for cleaning any size of drain or sewer pipe.
  • Unlike drain snaking which only clears a section of the pipe (if it helps at all), water jetting will clean the entire drain line.

When should you use water jetting instead of drain snaking?

Water jetting is the preferred method in the following circumstances:

  • You have a clog that has persisted for a long time.
  • The clog is located deep inside the drain and snaking the drain has not helped.
  • You suspect that you may have tree roots obstructing the pipes.
  • You want to clear your drain and sewer pipes as part of the maintenance schedule for your home’s plumbing systems.