Do Your Drains Seem Clogged?

Few home problems are more annoying than a clogged drain. The good news is that it’s usually a minor problem that can be taken care of quite easily. Blocked drains are most common in the bathroom since it contains the sink, toilet, and shower and tub drains. However, the kitchen sink, laundry room, and basement/garage drains can also become clogged. When this happens, it can cause dirty water to leak or back up into your sink, tub, shower, or floor. It can truly be disastrous if the water then starts leaking into the room below.

Sink Drain

Why Is My Drain Clogged?
Drains become clogged in different rooms for different reasons. In the kitchen, food, grease, and overworked garbage disposals are often the culprit. In bathrooms, sink, shower and tub drains clog because of hair, soap, and hair care products. Toliets can clog due to wipes and paper towels being flushed. Some heavier kinds of toilet paper will create blockages, too. Laundry tubs will clog from bits of fabric that slough off clothes during the wash cycle, and garage drains get blocked from dust, dirt, and insects.

You can fix your sink drain yourself using a plunger for smaller clogs and a snake for more stubborn blockages. The U-shaped pipe under your sink (the trap) can be taken apart, cleaned out, and put back together easily. Just remember to place a bucket underneath the trap when you’re disassembling it.

How to Keep Your Drains Like New
So what can you do to ensure that your drains don’t become clogged in the first place?

  • Install a hair catcher in your tub and shower drains. It’s simply a sieve that fits over or down into the drain. It lets water go down the drain, but prevents your hair from forming clogs.
  • In the kitchen, allow hot cooking grease to harden, then throw it in the garbage instead of sending hot grease down the sink.
  • Don’t flush tissues or paper towels down your toilet.
  • Don’t pour chemical solutions down your drain, because they will harm your pipes. They are also highly dangerous and poisonous.

If you can’t unclog a drain, give Pittsburgh’s Best Plumbing, Heating and Air a call. Our licensed Pittsburgh plumbers have a lot of experience with clogged pipes, and we will clean your drain or drains out quickly. Call our professional and trained technicians.