It’s pretty much inevitable that at some point, you will encounter a clogged drain in your home. What’s your first instinct when this happens? If you’re like many homeowners, it’s likely to reach for a bottle of store-bought chemical drain cleaner.
Please don’t! This is actually the worst thing you can do for the health of your plumbing system. Sure, it may solve the problem, temporarily, but it will only increase the plumbing problems you’ll face later. So how do you properly clean your drains? By calling in a professional plumber. Want to know why? Read on!
Store-Bought Drain Cleaners Do More Harm than Good
Have you ever noticed the amount of warning labels that are plastered all over a bottle of store-bought drain cleaners? This is because most of these “solutions” contain some pretty harmful chemicals. They’re highly caustic and compromise your plumbing system by eating through not only whatever is clogging up the drain, but sticking to the drainpipe walls and eventually corroding the pipes, too.
After years of using these types of drain cleaners, pinhole leaks will begin forming in the plumbing, leading you to need to replace your plumbing a lot sooner than normally necessary. Trust us when we say that the cost of replacing pipes is not worth the benefit of having some store-bought drain cleaner in easy reach.
The Power of Professional Drain Cleaning
So, what is the solution to proper drain cleaning? Hiring a professional! Professional plumbers understand that the average store-bought drain cleaner does more harm than it does good. This is why we do not employ the same methods when we are cleaning your drains. Professional drain cleaning involves specialized equipment that’s safe for you, your family, and your pipes.
For instance, drain snaking is one of the oldest and most commonly used methods that plumbers use to eliminate stubborn clogs. A long cord with an auger on the end of it is lowered into the affected pipe, until it comes into contact with the slog. Then, the auger can drill through the clog and latch onto it in order to pull it free from the pipe. This is a fast and simply solution that won’t have any lasting negative effects.
Another method growing in popularity is hydro-jetting. This is when a hose is inserted into your pipes with an omnidirectional head that sprays a high-pressured stream of water down the pipes to blast away any clogs in the system. This is a very thorough method that not only removes the problem, but makes it less likely for clogs to build back up in the future because of how thorough it is.
Hydro-jetting is even great for blasting away tree roots that may have infiltrated a sewer line or main water line—which is actually a pretty common problem. While the pipe will still need to be repaired or replaced in this case, hydro-jetting helps get a good head start on the problem with as little destruction to your landscaping as possible.
To schedule your next professional drain cleaning appointment in St. Louis, MO, contact Performance Plumbing!