How NOT to Clean Your Drain

When your drain clogs, you normally don’t rush to pick up your phone to call your plumber. You might if sewage is regurgitating up your shower drain – but if water is just pooling, most homeowners opt to roll up their sleeves and try to fix it themselves. Depending on your situation, many DIY drain cleaning techniques can end up causing more harm than good. Here are five things to avoid when cleaning your drains.

Don’t use the garden hose! You may be thinking, wait what? Trust us – people have tried it. Just because your garden hose has a bit more force than your faucet does not mean it will flush out your pipes and unclog your drains. Normally all this does is put your pipes at risk and possibly cause a giant hassle for you.

Avoid Drain Augers - While these tools can be fantastic in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing, in the wrong hands, they can easily cause damage to your pipes. Drain augers are also not effective for all types of pipes, so even if you are fairly capable, they might not help with whatever problem you’re trying to fix.

Don’t pull out the chemicals! Any time you need to gear up to use something, it’s probably not good for you and your home. Many chemical cleaners do not work and are more of a mess than a clean-up. Sure they might help with a small clog, but if you have a solid obstruction they won’t be able to get around it.

Leave the coat hangers in the closet. An old go-to was to pull out a wire coat hanger and bend it. While this seems like an ingenious idea at the time, unless you’re pulling out more than a wee bit of hair near the top of your shower drain it’s probably not the best idea. Most likely your experience with this technique will leave you frustrated because it’s generally ineffective. If your coat hanger gets stuck, you can cause more damage to your pipe and possibly make your clog worse than it was, to begin with.

Putting on your tool belt.. – While we are all about people being able to do DIY projects, plumbing is not where you should begin! Unless you have experience in plumbing, we highly advise you not to disassemble the piping yourself. Not only will taking them apart be an adventure, but then you have to find the actual clog, remove it, and put it all back together.

Are you calling your Mr. Rooter Plumber of Oneida, NY for a totally different issue? Be sure to ask for a quick pipe inspection while they are there. Your local plumber will be able to take a look and decide if you need your drains cleaned or serviced. Have a question? Give us a call!