Signs of Drain Backups, How to Unclog Drains

If you have running water in your home, here are a few important things you need to know about your drains!

At the kitchen sink

• Let plenty of water run down the drain by keeping the faucet open for up to a half a minute each day.
• Sink lines commonly plug because not enough water is flushed through them, especially after the garbage disposal is used.
• Run the facet for about five seconds after you turn off the disposal. This helps flush the line.
• Never pour hot oil or grease down the sink—whether or not you have a disposal.
• About once a month fill the sink to the top with very hot water. Using a fork or other kitchen utensil so you don't scald your hand, remove the sink's plug. As the clean, hot water swirls down through the sink line, it takes much of the grease buildup with it.

To keep a toilet from plugging

• Don't put anything foreign down the toilet except toilet paper.
• Items such as dental floss, Q-Tips, baby wipes, or any other paper product cling to the roots in the sewer and cause an immediate blockage.

Don't rely on chemicals

• Many people try chemicals before hiring a drain cleaning expert because they want to save money. Then they call the drain cleaner anyway because the chemical hasn't cleared the drain.
• Chemicals can solidify in a drain line and aggravate the blockage. If the chemical doesn't eat through the blockage, therefore not flushing down the drain, the chemical sits in your sink line. It crystallizes, and then there is no way you can easily clean a sink line after chemicals harden in it.

Signs of Big Backups

When your sewer is plugged or your septic tank needs pumping, here's what will happen:

• Water backs up out of your tub drain when you flush your toilet.
• When you empty your bathtub, the water stop flowing and bubbles back at you or bubbles into the toilet.
• When you empty your kitchen sink, the sink water backs up into the toilet.
• When you flush your toilet, sewer water backs up through an outside downspout, patio drain, driveway drain, or the lowest floor drain in your house.
• When you run a load of laundry, soapy water comes up into a toilet, shower, or floor drain.