Homeowners rely on Waldrop Plumbing – Heating – Air for emergency and preventative drain cleaning in Greenville and Spartanburg. But is preventative cleaning a good idea? People often call a drain cleaning service only when they have a clog or backup. However, there’s a way to prevent such a situation and protect your home, plumbing, and safety, as well as your finances.
Should I Schedule Preventative Drain Maintenance?
Preventative drain maintenance involves regular checks of your drains and pipes. Grease, soap scum, hair, skincare products, food scraps, and numerous other materials get flushed down drains without you even realizing it. These can get trapped in pipes draining from kitchen or bathroom fixtures, while dissolved minerals can also get deposited on the inner walls of pipes.
Over time, water flow becomes restricted, drains slow up, and sewer lines can become fully clogged. There are several home remedies to prevent clogs or clear them. While these are more beneficial than caustic chemicals often found in consumer drain cleaning products, the best approach is to have a professional maintain your drains. The benefits of this include:
- Emergencies Can Be Avoided: Calling a plumber in an emergency can involve paying overtime fees and wasting most of your day waiting for help and for repairs to be completed.
- You Can Save Money: Having to repair or replace a drain due to frequent clogs can be quite expensive. The unplanned costs can be avoided, which helps control your budget.
- Potential Issues Can Be Fixed Early: By looking inside your pipes (with the latest inspection cameras), a plumber can see where a developing clog or other issue is and take steps to resolve it so that it won’t be an issue in the future.
How Is Preventative Drain Cleaning Performed?
As part of regular maintenance, a plumbing technician can use a drain or sewer line camera to see inside pipes. It can reveal potential issues and their locations. While a camera can spot signs of corrosion or tree root intrusion, it can also show buildup and what materials might be forming a clog. Therefore, you can make informed decisions before a major plumbing failure occurs.
Hydrojetting has become a common preventative drain cleaning method. High-pressure jets of water scour pipes clean from the inside and can even break apart clogs and mineral scale. The process is thorough and highly effective at preventing blocked pipes and issues such as low water pressure, overflows, and sewage backups.
Other Ways to Protect Your Drains
You have a few options when it comes to protecting your drains. Preventative drain cleaning is still a good idea even if you:
- Avoid pouring grease or oil down drains; throw it in the trash instead.
- Place filters over shower drains to prevent hair from clogging the pipe.
- Don’t put hard, sticky, fibrous, or thick food items in the garbage disposal.
- Only flush toilet paper down the toilet.
- Call a plumber whenever you have a dripping faucet, a running toilet, or low water pressure.
If a drain is showing signs of clogging up, you can prevent a larger clog. Pouring a pot of boiling water down the drain will liquefy any grease or fats. Do this every one or two months with clog-prone drains. Enzymatic drain cleaners can prevent clogs from forming. If you think your garbage disposal is clogging up, you can plug the drain, fill the sink with a few inches of cold water, then remove the plug and run the water. Turn on the disposal to allow the influx of water to clear it out.
Schedule Preventative Drain Cleaning Today
While it helps to know how you can maintain your drains, Preventative drain cleaning is a good idea. It can avoid various plumbing issues such as a complete blockage or failed pipe. At Waldrop Plumbing – Heating – Air, we address any drainage issue and specialize in different methods of drain clearing, including snaking, rooting, and hydrojetting. To request a preventative drain cleaning, schedule service online or call (864) 536-0887.
