I Have a Clogged Drain, IS DIY a good idea?
As your trusted Fox Valley Plumber, we are here to give you the honest answers on whether you truly need to call a plumber for a clogged drain or if it something you can fix easily on your own. You’ll find plenty of material on the internet telling you that you don’t need to call a plumber when your drain gets clogged. Sometimes that may be true, however there are times when DIY plumbing is just not going to get the job done. There are lots of step-by-step tutorials for each of the possible DIY techniques you can apply to take care of your clogged drain. As plumbing experts online will tell you, your first unclogging attempt should involve a plunger. If the problem is superficial, a plunger would suffice. Although, if you are reading this, you have likely already tried un-clogging your drain with a plunger and that has not worked.
If the plunger doesn’t quite cut it, you can then move on to the next attempt. If you don’t want to deal with drain clearing chemicals just yet, you may be able to loosen the debris with some hot water. This should loosen anything that can be melted.
If the cause of the blockage can’t be dealt with using heat, it’s time to bring in the chemicals. You need to take every precaution dealing with these acids or you may just find your fingerprints getting wiped out for a period of time. For safety purposes, make sure you wear gloves anytime you are handling harsh drain clearing chemicals. You need to watch out for your lungs as well, so wearing a surgical mask is a good idea, too if you have respiratory issues. To play it safe, just don as much protective gear as possible.
Your drain could remain clogged even after it had chemicals steeping in it; do you call the plumber now?
According to the Internet, you can still hold it off for this one last try. You can get yourself a plumber snake and work it into the drain, feeding it down until it encounters the cause of the obstruction. If you’re successful with this, pour down some hot water down the drain again to loosen any remaining debris. Here is where we ask you to proceed with extreme caution or stop and call in your local Fox Valley Plumber. If you have more than just a clogged drain or there is some corrosion in your drain lines using a snake without experience can cause more damage to your drain lines. An experienced plumber can first camera the line to see what the true cause of the issue is and what the best plan of action is going to be to solve the problem. Of course, if you get disgusted easily or if you tend to be clumsy, or just don’t have the time or tools for DIY, get hold of a plumber right away for an estimate on repairing your drain problem.
Obviously, if none of the above methods work, you’re probably dealing with something beyond most DIY capabilities. Drain clogging can stem from something much deeper like underground tree roots getting into your sewer line. We’re talking about something that’s deep in the ground. Unfortunately, this is the case in a lit of older homes with big beautiful trees that have been growing on the property for decades. At this point, it’s clearly time to call in the pros.