You noticed the drain slowing down over the last couple of weeks, but now almost no water gets through that drain in your shower. You know you need to get this taken care of, but how?
A plumber can come to knock that clog loose, but they aren’t cheap. Researchers looking at recent pricing trends estimate the cost to have a drain snaked by a professional plumber ranges from $130 to over $300!
Best Drain Unclogger
Before looking up a local plumber, why not try to unclog the drain yourself? We put together a quick guide to choosing the best drain unclogger. Before tackling your clogged pipe problem, keep reading to learn everything you need to know.
Types of Clogs You May Have in Your Drain Pipes
The first thing you need to know before deciding how to tackle the clog is to figure out what kind of clog it is. Here are the two most common types of clogs, how they happen, and how you can help prevent them from happening.
Grease and Gunk Clog
This kind of clog happens in sink drains and even the drain in your shower/bathtub. Fat, oils, and grease from food or your body clump together in the pipes, forming a blockage like bad fats in your arteries.
Try using a liquid drain cleaner or a water jet tool to dislodge a grease clog from your pipes. Once the clog is gone, avoid dumping fats and oils into your drains to help prevent these kinds of drain clogs in the future.
Root and Debris Clog
The other common drain clog happens when roots and vegetation invade the pipes under your house. Unfortunately, these kinds of clogs often mean calling a plumber to come to repair your pipes, but you can try to tackle the problem DIY style if you’re brave enough!
To clear these types of clogs, you’ll need a pipe-freezing kit and a drum tool (see below for description). If you can’t free the vegetation using these tools, do yourself a favor and call in the pros.
If you notice any trees, bushes, or other plants that have invasive root structures near your house’s foundation, remove them (whenever possible) ASAP to avoid these kinds of clogs.
How to Pick the Best Drain Unclogger for Your Particular Plumbing Problem
Once you know what kind of clog you have, you can devise a game plan to eliminate the gunk blocking your pipes. Different types and severities of drain clogs require additional tools to relieve the issue. Make sure you’re using the right tool for the job and not the most powerful tool you can get your hands on.
The Patented Auto-Clean Sink Machines
This excellent beginner machine is meant to power through typical drain clogs like hair, soap, and grease. For most regular home drain issues, or if the drain isn’t clogged, the Auto-clean sink machine should work wonders for your case.
This will not do anything for you if you have a more compacted clog or roots in your pipes. Heavy-duty problems like those will need a more powerful machine.
Drum Machines
For those pipes invaded by plant roots, or if the clog has gotten complicated and compacted, a drum machine can cut through the worst of clogs! However, they only work on sink lines ranging from 3/4 inch to 10 inches in diameter, so make sure you know what your plumbing looks like before you spring for a drum machine.
Water Jet Sprayers
If you feel nervous about electric-powered water jets, you can find gas-powered water jet sprayers! The flexible hose forces water through your pipes, removing blockages and flushing the drain to allow full water flow.
Pipe Freezing Kits
If the pipe damage has gotten too bad and you need to isolate a specific section, you’ll need a pipe freezing kit so you can replace the wrong section of piping. These kits also come in handy when you need to work on a section of pipe where you cannot turn off the water flow.
Hire a Licensed Plumber to Tackle the Problem
You may need to call in the professionals for stubborn clogs you can’t quite free, no matter what you try to clear them with. A licensed plumber like Vactor sewer cleaners makes quick work of any clogged drain.
A good plumber doesn’t come cheap, so make sure you can’t get the drain unclogged by yourself before you call in the professionals. But, if you need a plumber, check customer reviews to ensure you’re hiring a reputable company.
Don’t Let Your Time and Money Run Down the Drain; take Care of Your Clog Today!
If you catch the problem in time, you’ll unclog that pesky drain in no time! Unfortunately, sometimes having the best drain unclogger won’t even help. For those cases, it’s time to call the pros.
In the future, try to tackle a drain problem the first time you notice the water draining slower than it should. Fixing pipe problems early keeps the clog from causing worse (and more expensive) problems.
We hope you loved reading this article and that you learned a thing or two about unclogging your drains. If you need more information about home DIYs, hobbies, health, tech, and much more, check out the rest of our blogs today!