Plumbing Basics

24/7 PLUMBING | ROOTER | DRAIN | SEWER | TOILET

Snaking a Drain, Cleaning Blockages & Maintenance
Frank D'orrs 714-858-5555 half the price than other plumbers cleaning!

Always run hot water into the drain daily, (this keeps your pipes semi washed) if
you find slow draining, use the plunger, and/or pour vinegar and baking soda 50/50
mixture into the drain, if all this fails then it's best to call 714-858-5555.

You may try removing the P-Trap (if you can handle the gooey mess), you may
discover the clog is in the bend of that pipe (P-Trap), in which case you can easily
remove it with washing. If the P-Trap is clear, then the clog is further into the drain
pipe, call me!

WARNING: If you've been using any sort of chemical liquid draino cleaner, you
shouldn't remove the P-Trap, and you shouldn't use any plumbing snake either,
because the acids in the liquid drain openers can give you serious burns or blind you
if they splash onto you. If you have resorted to the usual course of pouring a liquid
drain cleaner into the sink, tub or toilet, call a professional and let that person know
what you've used to try to clear the clog so they can wear protective apparel.

If the clog has formed some way down the drain, it may be impossible to loosen it
with hot water or mild chemical solutions such as vinegar or baking soda. Either the
clog contains some large object that cannot be broken down by the means you've
tried, or the walls of the pipe itself have gotten covered with material that's
hardened on, forming a near concrete hardened setiment substance that makes it
impossible to drain water properly.

Kitchen, bathroom, laundry room drains become clogged, is because a combination
of soap, hair, lint and grease. In the kitchen, food particles may combine with
hardened grease to form a nearly impenetrable barrier. Kitchen stop ups are often
among the worst to solve because grease from meats cools before it gets all the
way into the sewer line, trapping little bits of food, coffee grounds and eggshells
along with it. The deposits can over time form a sort of concrete that can't be
removed with hot water.

A plumbing snake or auger is a long, flexible metal cable that's pushed/threaded
through the drain pipe until it reaches the clog, drilling through whatever is jamming
the pipe. You can buy or rent plumbing snakes for do-it-yourself unclogging. Some
snakes can be attached to electric drills to give them more power; others are
manual. The snake is pushed into the drain from the sink, tub, toilet or other fixture,
until it reaches the clog. The end of the augur will either push through the
obstruction, tear it up with its twisting action, or become attached to it so it can be
pulled retrieved back up through the drain.

Large plumbing snakes aren't usually part of the homeowner's tool kit, they are
expensive specialized pieces of equipment. Snakes are different size for different
size pipes, there are different size heads for different size clogs, i.e. tree roots
verses grease, toys, etc.

Don't call just any "Plumbing" company, they're much more expensive than "drain
cleaning" company like PipeSnaking.com because "Plumbers" are trained to do
everything from installing new plumbing to doing technical repair work on leaks.
PipeSnaking.com is trained to use the snake - you pay a lot less for my drain
cleaning services. Hiring a plumber to snake a line is like hiring a heart specialist to
check your pulse—overkill.

Plumbing is a "Black Art", plumbing drain pipes are tricky, old pipes can be punched
through with a toothpick; you need someone who understands what can go wrong
with them. Also, running a snake requires a certain amount of finesse, as drains
invariably contain turns and angles, weak spots, rises and falls that determine which
way the pipe goes as it makes its way from your home to the street sewer or septic
tank.