What Your Plumber Has Not Told You About Blocked Drains

Gurgling sounds are usually the first indicator of a blocked drain, along with bubbling up, or slow draining. It also seems to happen at the worst times. Yes, you could call an emergency plumber in Toronto to sort it out in no time, but apart from regular plumbing maintenance, there are some things you could do at home to try solve the problem before you call a master plumber.

Blocked drains can often be avoided by not throwing fats, food particles or other unsuitable substances and objects down the toilet or sink. But sometimes, try as you might, you may still experience blocked drains due to other factors that are beyond your control. This includes tree roots in drains.

Blocked Drain Symptoms

You can usually tell you have a blocked drain by looking for the following signs:

• Toilet makes gurgling sounds when you flush.
• Water levels in the toilet, sink, shower or bath drain slowly.
• Bad smells.

DIY Drain Cleaning Option

We recommend that you stay away from chemical drain cleaners, but there are many natural and mechanical ways (using a plunger or auger) to solve blocked drains. Let's take a look at the natural tip your plumber has not told you about.

Natural Drain Cleaner: Baking soda is a miracle cure for many things. Grandma used it to clean armpit stains, jewelry, and even dirty ovens. Now you can use it to clean your drains. Simply pour half a cup of baking soda into your drain and leave it for a couple of minutes. Then dilute a cup of vinegar in a cup of boiling water and pour that over the baking soda. It will bubble as it scrubs your drain clean.

Tip - You may want to cover it with the drain plug to save yourself a lot of cleaning.

After another few minutes, pour a kettle full of boiling water down the drain. The water levels should start lowering much quicker already.

Preventing Blocked Drains From Inside

You could save yourself much hassle and plumbing costs by being aware of the causes of your blocked drains. If food particles are causing the problem, you might want to consider investing in a garbage disposal unit, which will at least chop the food particles up to a size that your drains can handle.

If hair is causing the blocked drains, you could buy a catcher that will stop most of the hair from going down the drain, causing issues. It is cheap and very effective.

Preventing Blocked Drains From Outside

The main cause for blocked drains outside of the home is roots in drains. During spring, plants receive an abundance of water and grow extremely fast. Sneaking into the small cracks and joints to access the nutrition from inside the drains, it quickly blocks the drains, leaving you with two options:

Hydro Jetting - Using this method, your plumber toronto will use an auger with a cutting attachment to cut the roots from inside the pipes. After video inspection, they will flush the drains using powerful water jets.

Pipe Repair - Once all the roots have been removed, it would be a good idea to repair or replace the cracked pipes with new PVC pipes. While this may seem cumbersome and costly, it is good to know that it can be done with minimum fuss with cured-in-place piping, which doesn't require any digging. Quick and convenient, this method is an affordable option that alleviates regular plumbing call-outs.

If you live in an older home with older pipes, you should schedule an annual root cutting service with your Toronto plumber. Still no joy? Then you may need to call a professional plumber to use video sewer inspection to see what is causing the problem.