The plumbing in your home is like the arteries of your house. You need it to transport water to complete daily tasks. Sinks, tubs, and showers drain massive quantities of water each day. These systems can easily get clogged by hair, soap, food, and grease. Drain cleaning services can unplug the system so you can use your sink, tub, and shower again. However, preventative maintenance can help keep the clogs from occurring.
The fact is that it doesn’t take much to clog up your pipes. Something as small as a cotton swab can back up your system if you’re not careful. In the kitchen, fats, oils, and grease are the biggest culprits. Draining the grease from hamburger meat, into the sink can cause a buildup. Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t realize that the blockage can actually affect the plumbing beyond your kitchen.
Maintenance vs Emergency
Annual drain cleaning maintenance can catch these blockages before they become an emergency. You can schedule the appointment when it’s most convenient. It also gives you the added benefit of being able to shop around for the best rates.
When you have to call a plumber after hours to come fix a problem, you end up paying double the normal rate. An emergency call also causes you to spend time on the phone looking for someone who can be out there quickly and not necessarily when it is most convenient to you.
Why Not Do It Yourself
In an emergency, it is easy to think you can complete the drain cleaning task yourself. There are many over the counter cleaners out there that advertise they break through tough clogs. The truth is that, especially if you have a tough clog like grease, many of those solutions don’t work.
Over the counter remedies are full of caustic chemicals. You risk splashing onto your skin or getting fumes in your eyes if you aren’t careful, but these solvents are not just dangerous to your health. They also have the potential to damage your plumbing. In fact, studies show that some OTC drain cleaning products don’t help with the actual clog. Instead, they damage the pipes around the blockage.
In fact, many of the newer cleaners are gel. That means instead of being easily flushed from your pipes, the chemicals stick to them. It could take weeks for you to remove chemical residue entirely, during which time the chemicals are eating away at the inside of your pipes.
Yes, there are natural remedies that you can attempt. While baking soda and white vinegar may break up the clog, if caught early enough, it may not. There is simply no guarantee that it will work, no matter how much you use.
When you schedule a plumber to maintain your pipes, they are going to use special tools to go into the system. These tools remove any objects that may block the pipe and remove all build-up inside.
A professional should perform drain cleaning maintenance on an annual basis. It will help keep emergencies from arising. You get the added benefit of a professional looking at your plumbing and catching any other potential problems before they become issues.