If there’s one system in your house you should be diligent about maintaining, it’s your plumbing system. Without proper maintenance, the drains throughout your house will develop residue buildup and eventually, clogs. If the buildup grows severe, it can lead to slow drainage, system-wide backups, and in a worst-case scenario, burst pipes and water damage.
Aside from being careful about what you allow into your drains, scheduling professional drain cleaning is the best way to keep your pipes clear and functioning optimally. But how often should you schedule service? And is routine drain cleaning really necessary if you’re watchful about what flows into your pipes?
The experts at Drain Blaster Bill’s Sewer & Drain Cleaning in Stillwater, MN explain what you need to know about various types of household drain cleaning below.
Kitchen Sink Drain Cleaning
If you have a garbage disposal, how do you use it? Are you super diligent about watching what you put in there, or is it more of a free-for-all when you need to get rid of food waste? If you fall into the latter category, your kitchen sink probably needs drain cleaning on a (very) regular basis.
Garbage disposals, despite their name, are not designed to grind up and dispose of anything you feel like putting in them. Rather, they’re only designed to grind and dispose of non-fibrous, non-starchy foods. When you consistently put things like eggshells, coffee grounds, potato peels, oils, or pits into the disposal, you not only put the machinery itself at risk for damage, but you also put your drain at risk for severe clogs.
Ideally, you should schedule kitchen drain cleaning once a year, more often if you continually have issues with the drain. And if you’re having repeated problems, consider changing your food disposal habits. It takes only a second or two to toss something in the trash rather than putting it down your disposal.
Bathroom Sink Drain Cleaning
Bathroom sinks are notorious for slow drainage, especially in households with men who shave over the bathroom sink. While a little hair flowing into the drain every now and then shouldn’t create a problem, when hair enters the drain daily, it will absolutely build up over time.
If anyone applies cosmetics products over the bathroom sink, it’s not uncommon for oils and other products to flow into the drain as well. And when these oily, viscous substances combine with the hair in the pipe, eventually, a gooey, sticky clog can form. While such a clog might initially slow down water flow through the pipe, it can halt that flow altogether if it grows large enough.
For sinks that see daily use, it’s generally best to schedule bathroom sink drain cleaning on an annual basis. If your home has an older plumbing system or the drain repeatedly slows down, you may need to schedule cleanings more frequently.
If you deal with frequent blockages in your bathroom drains, check out these other simple and effective tips for preventing bathroom drain clogs.
Bathtub and Shower Drain Cleaning
Like bathroom sink drains, shower and bathtub drains can collect quite a bit of hair over time. While many people assume that hair will simply flow through the pipe and into the sewer system, that assumption is downright false.
Think about what enters your shower drain when you clean yourself — soap, conditioner, body oils — basically, several different substances that are either sticky or oily. Over time, those substances create a slimy residue along the interior walls of the drain pipe. When hair strands get caught up in that sticky residue, they accumulate inside the pipe over time. Eventually, a gooey clog can form, which will slow or prevent water flow through the drain.
To maintain a properly functioning shower or bathtub drain, preventative maintenance is key. Scheduling shower drain cleaning at yearly intervals can go a long way toward keeping your bathroom plumbing in excellent condition.
Toilet Drain Cleaning
We’ve all dealt with a clogged toilet at one time or another, and some of us are fortunate enough to have never experienced a toilet back up all over the bathroom floor. If you’re one of those people and you’d prefer to never face that oh-so-fun cleanup, regular toilet drain cleaning is a must.
In addition to having your toilet drains cleaned, it’s never a bad idea to have main line sewer cleaning as well even if it’s just a preventive measure. Keeping both the toilet drain and main sewer line free of residue and solid buildup will help ensure you never have to deal with sewage backups inside your home.
So how often should you have these drains cleaned? It really depends on how much use your toilets and main sewer line see. Since the main line handles all the water and waste that flow out of your home, it’s a good idea to have it professionally cleaned about every two years. If your commodes see heavy use, annual toilet drain cleaning may be necessary, especially if your home has an older plumbing system.
Looking for Drain Cleaning Services in the Twin Cities? Contact Drain Blaster Bill
Whether your household drains are acting up or you’re taking care of preventive drain maintenance, our team at Drain Blaster Bill’s Sewer & Drain Cleaning is at your service. We specialize in a variety of highly effective drain cleaning techniques, including camera drain inspections, drain snaking, and water jetting to eliminate even the toughest clogs with ease.
To get started or learn more about our services, give us a call today at 763-913-8719 or request a free estimate. You can also send us a message with any questions, and we’ll be in touch.