Drain Cleaning & Clearing

That slow drain is more than just an annoyance – it’s a warning sign. Ove time, grease, soap, hair, and other debris build up inside your pipes, creating stubborn clogs. Regular professional drain cleaning is an essential preventative maintenance that eliminates foul orders, prevents surprise backups, and protects your home from costly water damage that can occur from major overflows.

Drain cleaning is needed for three primary purposes:

1. Water is not draining down

2. Sewage water is backing up into an area

3. Preventative maintenance

Water is Not Draining Down

When water isn’t draining down, it is often due to a clog in the line.

Kitchen Clogs

Kitchen clogs can be caused by too much food going down the drain, a broken garbage disposal or even something falling into the drain by accident.

We recommend that larger amounts of leftovers be scraped into the trash can rather than put down the drain. Sometimes, however, we forget or we don’t think the scraps are going to be that big of a deal. We may rinse down coffee grounds or egg shells or fat or skin from meat. None of these items move through the system very well, and that can cause kitchen sink clogs.

If running the garbage disposal doesn’t clear the sink full of water, it could be that there is a clog further down the line, or that the garbage disposal has stopped working.

Finally, something could have fallen into the sink by accident. Try to keep kitchen supplies contained in organizers and use a strainer or guard to prevent things like sponges, small containers, shot glasses, etc., from slipping into the drain.

Bathroom Clogs

Toilet Clogs

Toilet clogs are often the result of too much toilet paper, but can also be due to someone flushing something they shouldn’t. This could include wipes, diapers, washcloths/rags, feminine hygiene products, paper towels, and more.

Items can also sometimes fall into the toilet and precautions should be made to limit this from happening. Toiletry items, cellphones, and children’s toys can all accidentally drop into toilets and cause a problem.

Sink Clogs

Sink clogs often happen because of the build up of soaps, hair and other products. Sometimes, items can fall into the sink that weren’t intended, such as jewelry or items around the sink that simply fell.

Bathtub & Shower Clogs

Bathtub and shower clogs are often the result of hair clogs and the build up of products such as soaps, shampoos and other products. Drain cleaning clears the clog without the use of harsh or damaging chemicals.

Unlike sink lines which have an exposed p-trap, tubs and showers have hidden lines that run under the floor and/or into the ceiling below. This can cause the ceiling below to leak and it’s why it is so important to know that a broken line in this area needs to be repaired right away.

Causes of Sewer Line Clogs

Too Much Debris

Sometimes it can just be a clog from too much debris going down the line. This can be from running the washing machine and it filling the line with water that won’t pass, or as mentioned above, something being flushed or pushed through that wasn’t meant to be.

Tree Roots

When there are roots that grow into the line, they can catch debris and don’t let it pass, whether it is a small amount or a large amount of debris or water. Tree roots grow in at the joints of the pipe and this is very common and can be taken care of easily with drain cleaning.

A Poorly Maintained Line

When roots continue to grow in the line or the sewer line isn’t cleaned on a regular basis, damage to the pipe can happen. This includes full clogs that close the line, the line becoming disjointed, or the line sagging. These can all result in a broken line that requires repair beyond simply drain cleaning and is why we suggest preventative maintenance.

A Broken Sewer Line

A poorly maintained sewer line can lead to it becoming broken. Other reasons why a sewer line might break is due to earth settling/shifting, or trauma such as it being bored through, ran over with heavy machinery, poor construction, and severe root intrusion. A sewer camera might be able to help discover the problem, but if there is no light in the line due to the damage (collapse), it may simply need to be repaired.

Other Clogs

Sewer Back Ups

With clogs, we often know there is a problem when water isn’t draining down. However, in the case of a sewer line clog, we often see a sewer line back up.

What this means is that someone may run water in one area and it goes down, or gurgles, but then water and/or sewage comes up in another area. Depending on the structure of the property, the sewer can back up in the floor drain, toilet, tub or sink. Often, these back ups happen on the lowest floor of the house, especially the basement.

The sewer line can be accessed from multiple points in your home and we will find the best one that will allow us to clean the full length of the line to remove the clog and get things flowing the correct way once again.

Preventative Maintenance

Preventative maintenance drain cleaning is exactly what it sounds like – it is designed to clear the lines of debris before there is a problem.

Consider preventative maintenance of your sewer line based on the amount of root growth you experience, as well as the volume of use of your sewer line. Interestingly enough, if you don’t use your sewer system as often (you are single, conserve water, or your home isn’t occupied year round), you could have more problems because you don’t have enough water clearing the lines on a regular basis.