Obstructed sewers can cause your blood to boil
Obstructed sewers can cause your blood to boil
You are standing under the shower for a relaxing time, and all of sudden you realize that water is rising around your toes. It’s definitely not a very good feeling! A blocked drain sounds horrible to begin with. Imagine you are brushing your teeth and you notice that the sink is already half filled with water, Yuck!. The prospect of sorting choked drains out is not a happy one; it can be messy and time consuming. However, most household bathrooms will experience a choked drain at some time and one time or another. So you should know how to unblock them, well in advance.
Why Do They Happen?.
Hair, dust and other particles getting stuck in the space between the drain pipe and the pipes are the main cause. The problem gets worse when the particle build up is cemented together by the residues of detergents and cleansing cosmetic items. As the mass grows, it restricts the free flow of water, and the drain eventually becomes choked. So, if you are finding the water isn’t running freely through your drainpipe resulting in water rising quickly in your bath or sink chances are that you have a blockage in your plumbing system.
So how can you unblock these drains?.
Time to roll up your sleeves and tackle the clog – here are a few tips on what you can do to unblock your bath or sink drainpipe. First of all the stopper should be removed. You can easily remove the plug by pulling it off from the bathroom sink, however if it’s fixed under the sink then you need to unscrew the nuts. With respect to the bath, the screws have to be loosened to remove the stopper or the overflow plate has to be dismantled.
It is important to remove the plug because only then you can view the things that are clogging the drain inside the drainage pipe. You are most likely to see bunch of hair and other debris entangled in a clog. Try to get as much of this out as possible by hand, this could solve the drains problem. If the debris is further down than your hand can reach, push in a bent wire or coat hanger and coax the clumps out. Clearing out the hair, soap scum and particles could very well take care of the problem for you.
If you need to disassemble the drain pipe and notice that the blockage is not even within reach of a wire hanger, you will have to try another method. A plunger will be helpful next step in removing blockages that are out of the reach of your hand. To begin with, you should plug the overspill drain pipe to make sure that the plunger has optimum suction. Now, place the plunger straight away on the opening of the drainpipe,and thump it up and down a number of times. Hopefully, after doing this and once the plunger is taken away, any water should flow freely down the drainpipe as the vacuum created freed the blockage.
If the plunger also fails to clean your bathroom drainpipe, then you should take the help of chemical drain pipe cleaner. Chemicals used in these cleaners are deadly and are to be used only when all else fails as they can affect your sanitary fixtures and pose a health risk.
Call a professional plumber if all else fails.
If you are unable to unblock the drains even after trying all the methods, it is only advisable to call a professional plumber who has experience of drainage work. Plumbers have special equipment to clean the choked drains speedily and effortlessly such as a drains snake, drainage contractors also employ water jetting to clear blockages and cctv drainage cameras to view inside the drain. Though it won’t come cheaply, an experienced plumber’s help can provide peace of mind.