As a homeowner in Mansfield, TX there are probably a lot of tasks you know you need to take care of on a yearly basis. With any luck you know to have your HVAC system cleaned at least once a year, call out preventive pest control services during the spring months, mow your lawn as needed throughout the year, and at some point bring your holiday decorations before the next year circles back around (or don’t if that’s your thing). However, if you have issues with the drains in your home, there may be one more task to add to your maintenance list: get an annual drain cleaning service.
Drain cleaning service is not always the top item on your list, but once you experience an unexpected floor drain clog it will become the only thing you think about. Some homes are simply prone to sewage clogs, especially older homes in Mansfield, TX. Not only are the sewage lines in older homes more susceptible to issues, but older homes tend to have older trees which means more roots to contend with that can grow into your sewer system and cause blockage issues.
The good news is that you don’t need to live with clogged drains or repeated sewer clogs. If you have experienced more than one drainage issue within six months, then there is a good chance that you need an annual drain cleaning service to keep your pipes running clear. Of course, this is something that you should consult a professional drain cleaning service about, because they will be able to take a closer look inside of your pipes with special camera tools. This will enable them to see why a clog may be occurring over and over again and what the appropriate solution would be.
In fact, any time you have a clog in your basement floor drains or anywhere else in your home your first call should be to a professional Mansfield, TX drain cleaning service. A lot of homeowners attempt to handle clogs on their own, but usually, this just results in the clog coming back or the flood damage getting even worse. Outside of the inconvenience and foul odors associated with drain clogs, the most harmful part of a clog is the potential flood damage. Anytime water is involved the situation needs to be dealt with quickly so it doesn’t lead to water damage inside of your home which can be handled by a drain cleaning service.
Not sure why you have to keep dealing with drain issues in your home? Or is this the first time you have had a clog and you aren’t sure what to do? The best thing to do is always to call a drain cleaning service in Mansfield, TX, but in the meantime, while you are waiting for help it may be useful to learn a few reasons why you are dealing with a clogged drain and some of the benefits of being proactive about drain clogs. Like most things, a little bit of prevention each year can save you a lot of money and frustration down the road.
What Causes Drain Clogs?
Believe it or not, there are actually dozens of causes of drain clogs that range from a three-year-old flushing a toy down the toilet to invasive tree roots in your front yard. With so many options it is important to hire a professional to take a look at your drains to ascertain what the problem is. A lot of people attempt to fix the problem on their own, but doing so can actually cause more damage if you don’t know what you are doing.
Believe it or not, if there is something jammed down your drain then no amount of drain cleaner or any other material from the local hardware store is going to solve your problem. Small snakes can help in some situations, but most of the time these are too minuscule to break up clogs. Instead, they free just enough space for water to get by but the partial clog will seal off again placing you back in the same spot again. This just reinforces why a professional drain cleaning service in Mansfield, TX is always the best approach.
So what causes those clogs in the first place? Here are a few of the most common reasons that drains clog, but there are many other scenarios that exist outside of this list. These however are probably what a professional drain cleaning service will be looking at when they come to your home because they are most likely to explain your problem. Take a look and consider if any of these situations might have occurred in your home, or if there is a poor plumbing habit that you correct so you don’t have to deal with a clog again in the future.
Foreign Object in the Drain
One of the most causes of acute drain issues is a foreign object slipping down your drains. This can happen in the kitchen, in the laundry process, or most commonly at the toilet. While it is more common for items to slip down your drains if you have children in your Mansfield, TX home, it can easily happen to adults as well. For instance, many women keep their makeup in medicine cabinets near toilets. A simple slip-up can end up in something going down the toilet that should not.
The kitchen is another area where foreign objects can slip down the drain without notice. If you are busy cleaning an area in the kitchen something can easily slide down your sink and then you may run the disposal. It may or may not go down the drain then leading to other issues. The truth of the matter is most modern homes are filled with dozens of small items that can be knocked into your plumbing system. Most plumbers recommend you take stock of what is sitting by your drains and move small objects to help reduce the chances of this happening.
Tree Roots
Another big cause of drain clogs is tree roots. It doesn’t take much for a tree root to invade a sewer pipe. Most people think that a tree has to be massive in order to break through a pipe, but the truth is that even a smaller tree can have an extensive root system. In fact, many trees have root systems that extend miles underground. This means that even if you don’t have a tree in the front of your Mansfield, TX home, the roots from a neighboring tree a few houses down can cause issues.
That makes it almost unavoidable that at some point tree roots are going to cause problems with your drains, however, you don’t have to resign yourself to clogs just because there are trees in your neighborhood. This is a time when the annual drain cleaning service can actually turn into a great way to deal with clogs. Booking a drain cleaning service every six months or so can actually help you prevent roots from getting large enough to cause clogs by knocking them out before they have a chance to grow in depth.
The reason this works is that tree roots tend to be small whisps when they start to infiltrate sewage pipes. Roots naturally grow towards water and nutrients, both of which happen to be found in your sewage system. A full-grown root will not usually break into a pipe, but a small wispy root can grow into a tiny crack or seam and start to spread out across the piping. At first, this won’t cause a problem, but over time the roots grow larger and larger until they either collect debris and cause a clog or simply cause a clog due to their own size and shape.
Flushable Wipes
One of the most hated inventions of all time is flushable wipes. Most plumbers hate flushable wipes because they tend to cause nothing but problems for homeowners. While the wipes are marketed as flushable, they tend to be anything but and can cause issues with your drains within just a few months of use. Unlike toilet paper, flushable wipes do not immediately break down so they get stuck inside of your pipes and then attract more debris to them. Before long, you end up with a clog that grows larger until you have a major sewage backup and need an emergency drain cleaning service.
The problem can get even worse if you happen to have a septic tank because flushable wipes will ruin the balance inside of your septic tank and clog the filters. In fact, many people have had to replace their septic tanks because they unknowingly continued to use flushable wipes. With this in mind, even if you haven’t experienced a clog yet, if your home frequently uses flushable wipes you may want to switch to save yourself from future problems. Just because you haven’t been caught by flushable wipes yet does not mean that you are safe.
Hair
Hair is something that is unavoidable since everyone showers and gets ready in their bathroom by their vanity sinks, but there are things you can do to stop hair from clogging your drains. The best and safest thing you can do right now is buy sink traps to put over your drains. This one simple investment can catch hair that you can safely empty away from your drains a few times a month. Most drain traps only cost a couple of dollars and can save you hundreds in drain cleaning service charges down the line. If there is a lot of thick hair in your home, this is an improvement you want to make.
Oil/Grease/Fat
In the kitchen, one of the most popular reasons that drains clog is because of the continual draining of oil, grease, or fat down the kitchen sink. It is very common to take a skillet and rinse it off in the sink after use, but if you have been cooking something fatty when you rinse it off you are sending all of that grease down the drain. Any cook knows that grease solidifies if you don’t use it fast enough, but washing it down the sink means you are allowing it to solidify in your drains which can easily cause big issues.
Aging or Broken Pipes
Finally, sometimes the reason you keep needing to call out a drain cleaning service is the simple fact that your drains are old. In this scenario, there is nothing you can do but replace the sewer line or continue to call a drain cleaning service each time you need your drains cleaned. Broken pipes that are leaking will eventually rot your foundation away, so it is generally a good idea to be proactive and have these pipes repaired if you suspect that this may be the issue within your Fort Worth, home.
Who Offers Drain Cleaning Services?
At this point, you might be thinking more seriously about calling a drain cleaning service to take a look at your home. One of the benefits of choosing a plumber who offers drain cleaning service is that they can also send a camera down your pipeline before cleaning it. This small CCTV camera allows them to inspect the condition of your pipes and ascertain what is causing the clog. When you know what is causing your pipes to clog you are in a much better place to correct the issue.
If it is not something you can correct, after identifying the cause the drain cleaning service will recommend a drain cleaning schedule for your home. Some people find that a drain cleaning once or twice a year is proactively enough to prevent deep drain clogs in the future. If you need help with your plumbing system, contact Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth today. We will come out to your home to investigate the issue and help get to the bottom of what is wrong.