What Is The Most Common Problem Your Plumber Will Encounter In Your Home? | Crowley, TX
The top plumbing problems that plumbers get called about, according to many lists, are clogs, leaks, water heaters, water supply, and endlessly running toilets. At Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth, serving Crowley, TX, we’re betting that for our customers, drains are at the top of the list. They can lead to frequent plumber calls, sometimes for the same drain repeatedly and sometimes for several drains at the same time. We’re familiar with the causes behind even fairly uncommon drain problems. What our plumbers have to find out is which situation we’ve encountered. We arrive with the equipment to perform a number of drain clearing methods, from augers to hydro jet high-pressure sprays. With video inspection tools, we can locate clogs, determine their composition which helps us choose our tools, and verify when they’ve been cleared. Of course, the first clog we encounter when exploring may not be the one that’s causing all the trouble.
It’s Easy to Be Fooled By a Flowing Drain
When your sink has been slow for some time and finally stops draining, any resumption of flow is going to look good. That’s what fools homeowners who use basic methods to attempt clog removal, they gauge success by a sink that drains. If a deeper clog is limiting flow, it won’t take long before material gathers near the sink again, and another cycle of local clog busting will occur. When the deeper clog is removed by our plumber and flow resumes at the speed intended for your pipes, it will be much harder for material to gather in the sink trap or horizontal pipe leading away from it. A video inspection will usually show the difference between getting the pipes actually cleared, and simply getting flow moving. Another common instance happens in clogs which frequently occur because more than water and soap typically travels down the drain.
The Story of a Drain Clog
Drain clogs tend to be the buildup of grease, oil, soap, and similarly viscous materials that cling to the pipe wall and gather more material that flows down the pipe. That’s why we discourage homeowners from pouring cooking fats down the drain. Clogs can happen in the main wastewater pipes between floors that lead to the basement and sewer connection. In horizontal pipes, of course, material can simply settle out of slowly moving water and start a clog, which is why partial fixes tend to lead to repeat clogs. Faster moving drain water keeps materials continuing down and out of your Crowley, TX, home. In fact, horizontal pipes are supposed to be installed with a slight tilt, not too much nor too little. Too much tilt, and the water moves faster than the potential clog. Too little tilt, and the material settles out. Good plumbing design keeps everything moving together, and once in a vertical, unclogged pipe, the situation is pretty good. When backups occur deeper down, chaos can occur in toilets and sinks! We should probably have a diagram here, but the story is basically that clogs can form almost anywhere, though most people assume they’re near the sink that’s stuck.
Specialty Clogs in Your Shower and Kitchen Drain
There’s a common adage among repair people in most trades, that just because you’ve found “a” problem doesn’t mean you’ve found “all” the problems. Coincidences do occur. For plumbers, one case happens in showers and kitchen drains, the two locations where much more than water and soap tends to go down. In the shower, it’s hair that often forms clogs, while in kitchens, it’s food, even if it passes through a garbage disposal. If you put food down other drains, they’re part of this picture too. Once the hair is removed from a shower drain, or food from a sink drain, especially in the P-trap below where pasta and rice tend to inflate with moisture and block traffic, that’s a happy moment. Our plumbers know that, as in other drain clearing instances, it’s still important to be sure that was the only problem the drain had. One visit per drain is an excellent goal.
Toilets Have Their Own Plumbing to Clog
With some toilets, you can actually see the P or S-shaped trap molded into the porcelain, similar to the trap below your sinks. Other toilets have a smooth exterior, but this important piece of plumbing, which helps keep odorous and also dangerous sewer gasses from rising, is present in every toilet we work on. Just like with the sink, this twisting passage tends to bind up when things going down get bulky, and our plumber can come and clean it out. We might also clean the toilet jets that get things started by releasing water into the bowl during a flush. If the flush speed and volume aren’t right, there may be repairs needed to the mechanism that stores and releases or pushes water down. Again, when the surf’s up and the water is flowing well, you have a better chance of keeping your drains clear.
Upstairs and Basement Toilets and Sinks are Special
Plumbers know that your basement and top-floor sinks and toilets can behave strangely. That’s because basement plumbing is vulnerable to sewer line backups. Upper-floor plumbing is affected by the plumbing vent on your roof. In either case, you may experience multiple backups, gurgling toilets, and other phenomena. Don’t worry, it’s strange but it’s not unusual. Just call.
Your Experienced and Thorough Drain Cleaning Expert
At Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth, we take good care of our customers in Crowley, TX, by giving their drains our best when we’re called upon to help. As you can tell, a lot of knowledge and skill goes into it, but when you can flush without fear in the middle of the night, we’re glad. Call our plumbers for your drains, any time if it’s urgent!
