Blog

Photo By mariakray at Shutterstock

If you’ve experienced a drain clog before, you’ve realized that it can be a major inconvenience. It comes with messy floor leaks, yard flooding and costly repairs.

For those who are yet to experience them, that’s all the more reason to make sure you stave that annoyance away. To make sure you’re only calling the plumber for maintenance and not for major fixes that impede your comfort in your home, you need to know these five things so you can avoid them.

1.  Hard Shells and Bones 

Bones and hard shells are just part of garbage, which is exactly what garbage disposals are made for. In spite of that, they can be a major cause of drain clogs. It can be a little tedious, yes, but you’re better off tossing those directly in the garbage, not into the disposal.

Another thing you’ll need to watch out for is greasy food, as it can be easy to ignore or dismiss but it’s the main perpetrator in many cases of drain clogs. If these items have clogged your Pantego, TX, home and you’re in need of a plumber, we can help.

2.  Failing Dishwashers

Few things match the relief that a dishwasher brings after a long day and a meal you’ve put time and effort into. That said, they’re not infallible machines. They, too, like many things in your home, are prone to failure. In those cases, they can do the opposite of what they are meant to do and cause you extra work.

You’ll need to avoid running your dishwasher repeatedly over long periods of time. If it doesn’t need to be running, switch it off and save your drain. Another thing that’s important to do is removing solid waste from it before running a new cycle. This is something to give extra importance after cooking a meal with hard materials like bones and shells. Leaving them is a sure way to cause a backup in the drain, necessitating an emergency call to the plumber

If you’ve slipped up on this one, causing a clog in your drain, call us and we’ll store the plumbing in your Pantego, TX, home.

3.  Washing Machines 

Much like the dishwashers above, washing machines can often be a lifesaver that lightens the burden of a heavy schedule. Still, they too can cause problems by clogging your drain and have you scrolling through your phone for the plumber‘s number. Take a minute after a drain clog to see if it’s occurring after you’ve fed a load of laundry into your washing machine. If it is, there’s your culprit.

A large family and many other reasons can cause you to have to take care of large loads, often in quick succession. A handy tip is to space your laundry out, making sure large loads are not immediately following each other. Several large loads result in the synthetic fabrics of clothes collecting in drains.

This one’s a common but oft-unsuspected cause. If it strikes in your Pantego, TX, home, we can be there to help.

4.  The Main Sewer Line

The main sewer line shouldn’t be written off as a possible clog-draining agent. It may be difficult for you to spot where exactly the problem is but that’s usually in an area towards the edge of the street or in a line next to your home.

Checking with your Pantego, TX, municipality if the fault is your responsibility is often the best option since different municipalities go by different guidelines. If it falls squarely on your shoulders, no worries; call us when you need a plumber.

5.  Rain 

Wherever you fall on whether or not heavy rain makes for good weather for being indoors, your drains might have an opinion of their own. It’s not always a good one. Dirt and debris might start piling in your outside drains as the water washes them in rapidly. In most cases, the drains are not designed for large volumes of water coming in short bursts. It’s nothing a plumber can’t help with, though.

The summer is a time to watch out for with this, as it’s a time when heavy rains can leave you scrambling to stave off flooding in your home. It’s not something you can control, but knowing it may happen can leave you better prepared to call a plumber in time.

6.  Mineral Buildup 

Minerals dissolved in water have a way of building up in your drains after they solidify, becoming masses that block your drains. An often-effective solution is to have a plumber install a water softener if hard water has been a problem for you.

If the minerals have been building up for a while in your Pantego, TX, home, a professional will have to inspect them. That’s all the more urgent if you’ve noticed that your pipes no longer seem to be flowing.

7.  Tree Roots 

This cause of drain clogs shows why you’re much better off having a plumber do regular maintenance on your drains and other areas of your plumbing. Small leaks or cracks in your underground pipes do a good job of attracting root growth. In the short term, it will lead to what we’ve been discussing: clogged drains. In the long term, it will result in damaged pipes as the roots grow bigger.

If this problem gets even bigger, it will require complex activities like a rooter service, trench repair and pressure jet cleaning. You don’t have to let it advance that far, though, and the best way not to is to call Benjamin Franklin Plumbing at the earliest sign of trouble.

Drain clogs can be, at the very least, an annoying inconvenience. Left undealt with, they can result in severe structural damage. The best way to avoid them is to schedule regular maintenance so the problem is handled in its earliest stages. Knowing these common causes can help you to ensure that you avoid them altogether, or at least catch them when a simple repair is enough.