Tips for Keeping Your Sewer Line (& Plumbing) in Top Shape

Tips for Keeping Your Sewer Line (& Plumbing) in Top Shape

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Happy New Year! We hope you have an amazing year, full of health and prosperity.

Lots of folks around the world rang in 2022 with cultural traditions. 

  • In Spain, revelers munched down twelve grapes at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve to bring luck. 
  • In the Netherlands, families ate pieces of dough fried in fat to keep away evil. 
  • In Denmark, neighbors threw plates at one another’s front doors to banish ill will. 
  • In South Africa, the residents of Johannesburg threw furniture out of windows to make a fresh start in the New Year. 

Here in Colorado we like to commune with nature on holidays and we often do things for a cause. From Evergreen to Ouray, people threw on their swimming suits and jumped into freezing water to raise money for charity on New Year’s Day. (Brrrr. Anyone heard of the 5K where you sleep in, keep warm and just donate?)

We’re sure all of these events were fun and worthwhile, but we suggest establishing a more pragmatic New Year’s tradition. Start your year off right by paying attention to your plumbing! After all, your pipes and sewer line work hard for you all year long. Making sure they’re in working order early on can ensure many happy (non-) returns. Here are tips to help:

Flush your lines

First, make sure you don’t have clogged pipes. If you do, call a plumber like Garvin’s. 

  1. Head to your kitchen sink and turn on the hot water tap full blast. 
  2. Run the water about 30 seconds. Shut off the tap and wait for any water to drain completely.
  3. Place 1 cup of baking soda in your drain. 
  4. Slowly pour 1 cup of vinegar over the baking soda. You will hear fizzing and bubbling. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes. 
  5. Finally, rinse the vinegar and soda and any loosened debris down your sink by turning the hot water on a second time at full blast for about 30 seconds. 

Can the grease

Never. Ever. Never. Put grease down your drains. Store it in a jar or can and throw it in the trash instead. 

Limit food disposal

You’ll save your main line and your garbage disposal if you limit the amounts and kinds of food you put down your kitchen sink. See the garbage disposal section of this blog for what to avoid putting in your disposal.

Favor focused flushing

Remind your family and friends to never flush anything down your toilet except toilet paper. Nope. No meds. No deceased guppies. No sanitary products. No smoking products. No expired makeup. Just… none of that. It always ends badly. Take our word for it.

Scope your line

If you have an older home with clay or cast iron sewer pipes, this is a good year to have them inspected with a sewer scope. Sewer lines can shift, break and be infiltrated by tree roots and keeping them cleared will help them last. An inspection will ease your mind about their condition and make your plumbing one less thing to think about.

Watch those roots

Speaking of tree roots. Keep an eye on your tree roots. They are a major cause of sewer line damage. If your drains are slow, your toilets gurgle, you experience bad smells from your drains, or you feel soft, watery patches in your yard, you may have roots in your line, which Garvin’s can easily and affordably clean out.

Plan preventative measures

Ask a reputable plumbing services company like Garvin’s Sewer Service to clean your sewer line once or twice a year. The frequency depends on how often roots get into your line, how many people live in your home, the length of your line, the material your sewer line is made of as well as the age of your home and plumbing.

Garvin’s of Denver, Englewood and Boulder can help you with preventative sewer line maintenance, sewer inspection, drain cleaning, garbage disposal repair and replacement and more. Contact us today for a Speedy Fast Quote or call us anytime.

Sources

20 Unique New Year’s Eve Traditions from around the World (bestlifeonline.com)
7 Strange New Year’s Eve Traditions from Around the World – SeeThru (seethrumag.com)
Baking Soda and Vinegar Drain Unclogging Tricks – Plumbing Sniper
4 Signs You Have Tree Roots in Your Pipes | Choate’s HVAC and Plumbing (choateshvac.com)

The curse of the clogged sewer line

The curse of the clogged sewer line

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Ghosts, zombies, bats and vampires! In October, all things frightening are bound to appear before month’s end. 

But there’s something scarier than Edgar Allen Poe read around the campfire.

Something more chilling than your favorite horror movie. Something guaranteed to strike fear in the bravest of hearts…

The hulking marauder that cares for no-one. That smelly destroyer from deep below: 

The Backed Up Sewer! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! 

Calm your racing heart. Fighting this beast is in our wheelhouse.

What causes a backup?

A sewer line gets clogged over many days or months. Think of your pipes as a potential Stephen King villain. If they get mistreated again and again, eventually you will receive epic payback.

Thankfully, your plumbing system will often warn you that something wicked your way comes:  Your bathtub may be slow to drain, your sink drains could get sluggish and your toilet or sink could gurgle. 

Worst of all, you could smell foul odors from a drain or appliance. Ick—time to get help! 

Five things that can cause sewer line backup are:

  1. Roots
  2. Oil and grease
  3. Foods like eggshells
  4. Pumpkin seeds or pumpkin parts (beware!)
  5. Flushable wipes, sanitary supplies, paper towel

ROOTS: As we’ve mentioned in previous blogs, thirsty tree roots can break into your pipes and grow tiny hair-like threads that ball up and clog your main line. It’s best to get the roots cleaned out of your system at least once a year by a company like Garvin’s.

FOOD: Your kitchen garbage disposal should only be used to get rid of bits of leftover food when rinsing dishes. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not good to put eggshells down your disposal. Of course, never pour oil or grease down your sink drain. Coffee grounds and rice cause problems too, and even at Halloween, seeds, pumpkin guts, gourd and squash skins are a no-no. Put all of these in the trash, not through your pipes.

This includes the health smoothie your spouse makes you every morning! You hate it; you want to pour it down the shower drain in secret. But, it may contain pumpkin or carrots and all sorts of fiber. Trust us, it will COME UP AGAIN (true story) and create a plumbing disaster.

TRASH: In almost every restaurant bathroom, you see “be kind to our pipes, only flush toilet paper” signs. The same is true for your home. Don’t flush paper towel, sanitary products, wipes, toys, loser Halloween candy, or any trash besides human waste and toilet paper. No. Not even once!

What do you do during a backup?

Say that smoothie comes bubbling up in all its orange glory from the shower drain. Your toilet overflows in a disgusting tidal wave, or your basement drain backs up and foul water threatens your belongings. 

What do you do?

  1. Don’t panic. You will get through this.
  2. DO NOT flush toilets or do laundry. Limit your water usage.
  3. Remove any valuables that are threatened by the backup. (In fact, keep these items off the basement floor/out from under the sink always.)
  4. Call Garvin’s Emergency Drain and Sewer Service.
  5. Contact your homeowners insurance to see if sewer line back-ups/clean ups are part of your policy, if you think that is needed. (We have a few referrals in mind for restoration, carpet/floor, drywall, etc. who we have vetted if you need them – just ask.)

Why call Garvin’s?

We are a third-generation, family-owned company with over 80 innovative years of service history! For eight decades, Garvin’s of Englewood and Denver has cared for people just like you who need an ally in an emergency. 

We employ leading industry practices for drain cleaning. We use reliable products. Our service doesn’t hurt plants or wildlife or cause problems with metal or plastic plumbing. Our 30-member staff includes several of the best plumbers in the metro area. We’ve seen it all and know how to help. Contact us today.

What is a Sewer Camera Inspection?

What is a Sewer Camera Inspection?

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Plumbing has come a long way over the course of the last couple of decades, especially as it pertains to newer innovations like sewer camera inspections. It seems like a simple process—snaking a tiny camera down drains to search for damage—but there was a time not that long ago when the technology didn’t exist for such a thing. Now, thanks to these tiny and versatile cameras, the professionals here at Garvin’s Sewer Service can do a more effective job with every inspection and sewer line cleaning they perform.

How exactly do these inspections work? The following is a glimpse at what our professionals can (and cannot) accomplish using a sewer camera.

What Do Sewer Line Inspection Cameras Do?

A sewer line inspection camera looks like a long, robotic snake because that is effectively what it is. A tiny camera at the end of the snake allows plumbers to have a real-time look at what’s going on in your pipes, and the twisty, bendy qualities of the technology itself allows the camera to work its way through the curves and contours of any pipe or drain. In essence, they exist to help plumbers locate and diagnose problems that they could have only guessed at previously.

How Do Sewer Line Inspection Cameras Work?

The flexible rod holding the camera is inserted into the offending drain or pipe, and the high-definition video camera at the tip broadcasts everything to a little screen that the plumber uses during the inspection. Bright LED lights are attached to the rod, allowing the camera to see even in the darkest of places, and we record the entire thing so we can go back and locate the issue later when undergoing everything from minor repairs to a full sewer replacement in Englewood.

What Can a Sewer Inspection Camera Find?

While using these cameras, our professionals can spot the following problems:

  • Pipe issues – As homes settle, pipes can shift at odd angles, making them vulnerable to cracks, collapse, or misalignment.
  • Tree roots – Tree roots can grow into a sewer line, and can usually be cleaned. However, if the impact is too great, a major repair may be required. A correct diagnosis is critical, and the difference between thousands of dollars.
  • Corrosion – Modern pipes are made from PVC and are not likely to experience corrosion, but older metal pipes may be prone to it. Our cameras can find that issue if it exists in an older home.
  • Blockage – There are about a million different ways that a pipe can get blocked with something, and our cameras can find exactly where that blockage is to make it easier to remove.
  • Leaks – Our cameras also can find leaks in pipes, making repairs faster and easier to undertake.

If you would like to schedule a sewer line inspection using our high-definition cameras, give us a call here at Garvin’s Sewer Service so we can get you on the schedule at your earliest convenience. Plumbing has come a long way in recent years thanks in large part to developments like these cameras, and we’re ready to put them to use in providing the Denver area with the best plumbing services available today!

9 Items That Should Never Go Down the Drain

9 Items That Should Never Go Down the Drain

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Here at Garvin’s Sewer Service, we get calls from homeowners all the time because they have a clogged drain, and while there absolutely are times when this happens for reasons well beyond the homeowner’s control, there also are entirely too many times when that call to their commercial drain cleaning in Englewood could’ve been avoided. How? By simply knowing what can and cannot go down a drain.

Whether it’s the toilet, the kitchen sink, or a laundry room basin, the important thing to remember here is that your home’s plumbing system is designed to handle liquids and very few approved flushable solids like toilet paper.

Despite this rule of thumb, we often see certain types of solids dumped down the drain, and to help our customers avoid an emergency plumbing call in the future, we’ve assembled a list of those items here:

#1 Coffee Grounds

They seem small enough that they should just flush away like any liquid would, but they actually are one of the most common offenders of slow-building clogs in kitchen sinks.

#2 Eggshells

Ground-up eggshells can cause exactly the same type of problem. It’s just as easy to throw them away into the garbage can or to use them as compost if you’ve got a garden.

#3 Oil or Grease

Used oil or grease may seem liquid enough to dump down the drain when it’s still hot, but grease does eventually cool off and become more of a solid inside your pipes. Your best bet is to run this grease into an old jar or can, let it cool and harden, then throw it away in the trash.

#4 Produce Stickers

Even a little bit of adhesive on the backs of those stickers can add to drain clogs. They’re better off in the garbage, like all the other solid items on this list.

#5 Cotton Balls

Another big problem is when people flush solid items down the toilet, including cotton balls (and dental floss for that matter). They don’t dissolve like toilet paper does, which makes them more prone to cause clogs in your toilet.

#6 Paper Towels

Paper towels and wipes are the same way. They may look a lot like toilet paper, but they’re made to be thicker and more durable, which means they won’t disintegrate in your water like TP does.

#7 Condoms

Rubber is not biodegradable, which means these have no business being flushed town toilets. Keeping this type of garbage out of the water supply is important, so just throw them away instead.

#8 Feminine Hygiene Products

Flushing feminine hygiene products may feel like the fastest, most sanitary way to dispose of them, but like the other items listed above, they do not dissolve into the water, which makes them a prime candidate for causing issues with drains, even though they say they are flushable.

#9 Household Chemicals

Household cleaners, car fluids, and even paint are items that people often wash down drains, but we would caution against all of them. Toxic chemicals are never great for the water supply, so stick to all-natural cleaners or find safer ways to dispose of your household chemicals.

Call An Emergency Plumber

Whether you’ve flushed these items down your drain or not, it’s possible you’ll find yourself in need of a drain cleaning plumber in Englewood, and the professionals at Garvin’s Sewer Service are happy to help. Do your best to keep these items out of your drains, but if an emergency does ever arise, we’ll be here to help return your plumbing functionality back to normal.

A Guide to Sewer Line Preventative Maintenance

A Guide to Sewer Line Preventative Maintenance

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Your sewer lines may be hidden, but they are about as important as any individual aspect of a home. Imagine what life would be like if you couldn’t drain a sink or flush a toilet or run a shower without it backing up. It sounds awful, but these things happen all the time, and sometimes they get so bad that the homeowner can incur major repairs, including but not limited to a full sewer replacement.

How does one prevent having to undertake massive sewer line repairs? By taking care of a little preventative maintenance. Here at Garvin’s Sewer Service, we want to help homeowners do the necessary things to prevent their pipes from clogging, hopefully in a way that keeps a complete sewer replacement from ever becoming necessary. The following is a look at ways we can help with drain and sewer line preventative maintenance:

#1 Clean Slow Drains

Many people attack a slow-moving drain with a bottle of liquid drain cleaner, but there are so many reasons why that just isn’t the best course of action. A sewer drain cleaning in Englewood often is the best way to clear a drain of any grease, hair, or other items that could be causing the backup. It is better for the environment and the integrity of your pipes to have this done by a professional.

#2 Check for Cracks

Professional plumbers also can check your sewer for cracks using tools that most homeowners don’t have on-hand. Bendable snake cameras allow plumbers with a trained eye to locate cracks in a sewer, which helps them understand exactly where bigger problems may arise in the future had they not been checked up on early.

#3 Remove Trees Near Sewer Lines

Tree roots are among the most notorious killers of functional sewer lines, so one approach to preventing invasive and pricy sewer line replacement is just to remove those trees in the first place. If not removing trees, at least planting new ones away from sewer lines is a smart approach, and a plumber can help you know exactly where in your yard that may be.

#4 Test Water Pressure

Professionals here at Garvin’s Sewer Service have access to special gauges that can check the quality of your water pressure, and if something doesn’t appear to be working quite right, they can give homeowners a sense of what to do get things back up to snuff. 

#5 Check Under Sinks for Warning Signs

Another bit of preventative maintenance plumbers do is just to have a check under sinks for any cracks or leaks in the pipes that reside there. Think of it the same way you would a multi-point inspection for your vehicle at the car dealership. If something’s wrong, we can fix it before it becomes a much bigger problem.

Contact the Denver Sewer Replacement & Maintenance Experts

The idea behind any sort of preventative maintenance is to be sure that everything works the way it should and that molehills don’t turn into mountains. If you’d like to schedule a preventative maintenance appointment with one of our professionals, contact the professionals at Garvin’s Sewer Service so we can help ensure that your home’s plumbing continues working as it should.

Sink drain cleaning

Clean Your Drains Regularly Before They Drain You

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The drains in your home aren’t necessarily something you can see, but they are essential in ensuring that water is carried away from the home rather than pooling on the floor somewhere and/or dripping from the ceiling. Ideally, homeowners would not have to deal with leaky or damaged drains because they’d all work perfectly all the time, but the fact is since they are hidden behind walls it’s almost impossible to know that something is wrong until it’s too late.

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to prevent leaks and damaged drains. The easier thing to do is hire a professional drain cleaning service in Denver, CO to make sure your home’s drains are cleared out and working properly. Even if they aren’t causing backups, dirty drains can build up bacteria and germs, which is gross, unsanitary, and potentially corrosive to your pipes.

Four Reasons to Clean Your Drains

#1 To Prevent Major Plumbing Issues

The most important reason to have your drains cleaned regularly is to avoid major plumbing emergencies. A minor issue can become a major issue pretty quickly, especially when it comes to blockages. What starts as a bit of grime can build up into a full blockage, and then you’re looking at sewage backing up and a potentially very expensive series of repairs. Grease, soap, fat, and hair are the most common culprits, and regular drain cleanings keep those from turning into much larger issues.

#2 To Boost the Longevity of Your Plumbing System

And that’s the other major advantage. If you’re preventing major issues, you’re also boosting the longevity of the system as a whole. Blockages put strain on pipes and drains, and buildup can be corrosive. Rather than spending a small amount of money for a cleaning, homeowners can spend huge amounts on full system replacements. Clean drains prolong the inevitability of that.

#3 To Reduce Foul Odors

These blockages are, quite frankly, gross. They look gross, feel gross, and smell gross, and the longer these clumps of fat and grease are allowed to sit there and build bacteria and mold, the more likely they are to stink up the house whenever you use that sink or shower. No one likes these types of unpleasant smells, and a drain cleaning can prevent them from happening.

#4 To Prevent the Spread of Bacteria and Germs

Those bacteria have another negative outcome: turning your sink into a cesspool that can work its way onto food and otherwise clean dishes. Bacteria and germs in this context are not good for anyone, but a cleanout can prevent them from infesting your sink.

Hiring a Drain Cleaning Plumber Near Englewood, CO

If you find yourself in need of a drain cleaning plumber in or around Englewood, CO, contact Garvin’s Sewer Service so we can inspect your drains and schedule a cleaning if necessary. There are so many important reasons to make sure your drains are clean and working functionally, because the financial burden of resulting major plumbing issues simply isn’t worth the hassle or the expense.

Common Causes of Plumbing Leaks

Common Causes of Plumbing Leaks

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It’s never a good thing to discover that you’ve got a leak somewhere in your home, and while the professionals at Garvin’s Sewer Service are always available to fix plumbing issues you may have, it doesn’t make the reality of those imminent repairs any easier to swallow. They can waste water, leave water damage on your floors and ceilings, and even lead to mold growth. In short, it’s something that should be fixed immediately.

Not knowing where those leaks are coming from can be equally frustrating, so the following is a look at the most common causes of plumbing leaks we see here at Garvin’s Sewer Service:

#1 Broken Seals

When you first buy and install appliances, there are various seals around all the water connections that ensure proper water pressure in the appliances themselves while also keeping drips and leaks from finding their way to your floor. If there’s a broken seal somewhere, you may notice condensation on the appliance or a small puddle near the seal.

#2 Clogs

Everybody has experienced a clog in their drain at some point, but in certain instances those clogs can lead to much bigger problems, such as overflowing or burst pipes. 

#3 Corrosion

The older your home gets, the older the pipes inside the walls are going to get, and sometimes, that could mean corrosion. If you notice discoloration or warping of any visible pipes, it’s possible they need replacement to repair the leaks that either are coming or may be on their way if you don’t correct the issue.

#4 Damaged Joints

The joints that connect pipes together are a common place for water to break through. If the seals in those joints fail, or excess water pressure puts too much stress on the joints, water can leak through.

#5 Extreme Changes in Temperature

There’s nothing any home or business owner can do about the weather, but it is worth knowing that extreme changes in temperature can lead to leaks. Your pipes can expand and contract with the rapid drop or rise in temperature, and in so doing they can experience the sort of damage that causes leaks.

#6 Tree Roots

This is sort of a worst-case scenario because it usually means the professionals at Garvin’s Sewer Service may have some digging to do, but tree roots can grow straight through your sewer line, causing standing water in your showers and other drains. If you notice any or all of these things, it’s important to get in touch with a plumber right away. They can clean the line to clear the roots, or even run a sewer scope through the line to discover what is causing the issues.

If you’ve got a leak in your home, Garvin’s Sewer Service offers plumbing leak repair and sewer scope services to ensure that the problem gets fixed immediately. Leaks left alone for too long can cause all sorts of damage to your home, so nipping the issue in the bud before it gets too bad is essential when these sorts of leaks appear. Call today for a Speedy Fast Quote: 303-571-5114.

What Can a Camera Inspection Tell You About Your Sewer?

What Can a Camera Inspection Tell You About Your Sewer?

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Plumbers have been around for as long as plumbing has existed, making it one of the oldest professions in the modern world. Despite that, plumbing has a come a long way, especially in the last few years as technological advancements have helped make it easier than ever to detect any issues in hard-to-see locations such as your sewer line. Here at Garvin’s Sewer Service, we sometimes use sewer inspection cameras to locate sewer line problems, but only in certain situations.

If you’ve ever wondered in what contexts we may need to use these special cameras, the following explains how they work and what they can detect.

How Sewer Inspection Cameras Work

The device itself features a box with a screen attached a thin, snakelike hose that can be deposited into an open drain. Inside the hose are small lights and a fiber optic camera similar in size to those found in smartphones, and as the camera at the end of the cable extends down the pipe, images of what the camera sees shows up on the screen in real time. As the plumber threads the cable through the pipes, it observes any potential obstructions or leaks.

What These Cameras Can Show Us

Perhaps most importantly, these cameras have made it possible for us to detect problems that may be located in a sewer line, which is buried underground and often inaccessible for visual inspection from the outside. In a nutshell, these cameras can show our professionals most cracks, root damage, and corrosion, giving us an easy look at what needs to be fixed and how we could best approach fixing it.

For example, the camera could determine that root damage is what’s causing the issue, so we would know how to use the right kinds of tools to correct the issue. If there’s a clog, we know how to flush it out. There’s a good reason we use these so much at our jobs!

What Cameras Can’t Do

While a sewer camera inspection can catch many problems, there are some things it can’t do. With some old cast iron piping, the image can be hard to interpret sometimes, at which point we may have to use other diagnostic methods to figure out what’s going on.

At the end of the day, though, these cameras are very helpful in diagnosing what’s wrong with a sewer line. They help Garvin’s Sewer Service professionals do their job in a way that allows us to complete jobs quickly and efficiently. These types of modern plumbing tools are good for everybody involved, so don’t be surprised if you see one of our technicians using a sewer camera the next time you call them to your house to correct a sewer line issue.

How Do You Know It’s Time for a Sewer Replacement?

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Thankfully, modern sewage disposal systems are designed to ensure that we never have to deal with waste the way our ancestors did, but because we’ve grown so used to our sewage systems working flawlessly, the moment a system incurs any sort of damage, we notice it. And it isn’t fun.

There are a few things to look for if you suspect sewer damage, so if you notice any of the following occurring in your home, please contact Garvin’s Sewer Service at your earliest convenience. We will be able to diagnose the issue and undertake whatever sewer replacement or repair may be necessary.

#1 Sewage Backups or Blockages

If your toilets are experiencing clogs or backflow of any sort on a consistent basis, there is a chance that the problem is with the sewer or drain rather than the commode itself. The same could be true for your sinks or bathtubs, so keep an eye out for apparent blockages, and call your plumber to have a closer look.

#2 Slow Drain

One sign of a blockage is slow drains, which could admittedly indicate something much less serious than a sewer issue, but if it’s all the drains and toilets in a house that seems to be draining slowly, the chances of the problem being sewer-related rise exponentially.

#3 Unpleasant Odors

If your sewer system is performing the way it should, you should not smell anything foul in or around your home. If you notice the smell of anything even remotely like a sewer inside or even outside of your home, there’s a chance there’s a problem somewhere you can’t see.

#4 Standing Water in Your Lawn

Even without the odor, standing water in your lawn could indicate a leak in a sewer line somewhere underneath the grass in your yard. There should not be soggy or raised patches of earth in your lawn. If there is, it’s possible the sewer line is the issue.

#5 Extra Green Grass

By the same token, extra water and the extra nutrients found in the surprise “fertilizer” working its way into your soil can help grass grow fuller, greener, and more lush—but only in patches. If you notice these patches in your yard where they haven’t been in the past, it’s worth calling your plumber to have a look at your sewer line.

#6 Septic Pooling

The worst symptom of potential sewer problems is septic pooling, which means it’s not standing water in your yard, but standing septic waste. That means a broken main line or septic tank, and on top of being disgusting, it also means you’ve got a big problem somewhere underground that only a professional plumber can fix.

When It’s Time to Contact a Professional

Garvin’s will give an honest assessment of your sewer line, cleaning it first to determine the severity of the issue, offering a camera service to pinpoint the problem area, and offering sewer repair/replacement in the cases where that is the best solution. Unlike other companies, sewer replacement isn’t our first step – in fact, we have saved Denver homeowners tens of thousands of dollars a year by cleaning and maintaining their sewer lines rather than replacing them.

How to Clear a Basement Drain Without a Snake | Garvin's Sewer Service

How to Clear a Basement Drain Without a Snake

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For as long as there has been modern plumbing, pipes and drains have gotten clogged, and it never stops being frustrating for the people and/or families dealing with the problem. Floor drains—especially those located in basements—are especially susceptible to blockages since all the other water and waste from the house is carried downward by gravity to septic tanks or public sewers. Knowing that, we see a lot of floor drain clogs here at Garvin’s Sewer Service, and while we would love to help those in need with these types of problems, there are a few approaches homeowners can try before contacting an emergency drain cleaning service.

The Causes of Floor Drain Clogs

Before attempting to unclog a floor drain on your own, it’s worth knowing why these clogs happen in the first place. The most common issue occurs when sediment or waste accumulates in the pipes over time and creates a clog large enough to slow down the flow of the water. Other possible causes include broken or damaged pipes, water flow issues, or even pipes that were installed incorrectly in the first place. Sometimes, torrential storms can leave dirt and other sediment in the system that also can cause problems.

Whatever the cause, it’s a headache that can lead to bigger problems if left unattended.

How to Unclog a Floor Drain

While using a plumbing snake is usually the easiest way to tackle this (and again, Garvin’s Sewer Service is happy to provide this service), there are a few other things homeowners can try.

Clean the Trap

The first step in getting your floor drain to work as it was intended is to clean out the trap. To do this, locate the backflow preventer in your basement, remove its cap, then get a chisel and drive it around the notches in the retaining ring. Loosen the ring and the backflow ball, and then use a shop vac to suck out all the nasty sediment in the trap, which likely is part of what’s causing the problem.

After cleaning the trap, remove the backflow preventer’s cleanout plug and connect strong wire or cable to a power drill so you can spin it into the pipe opening. This should clear the clog and get your water flowing again.

Try Baking Soda and Vinegar

Sometimes, baking soda and vinegar can unclog a drain if the blockage isn’t especially stubborn. Start by pouring a pot of boiling hot water down the drain, followed by ½ cup baking soda. Let that sit a few minutes, then pour a mixture of one cup of vinegar and one cup of very hot water on top of the baking soda. Let it sit for five to ten minutes, then flush it one last time with another pot of boiling water.

Avoid Chemical Drain Cleaners

If that doesn’t work, it might be time to call someone here at Garvin’s Sewer Service to handle the clog for you. Avoid using chemical drain cleaners because they send toxic material into the sewers, and these chemicals can even corrode older plumbing systems. If chemicals are necessary, allow professionals to be the ones who use them.

When It’s Time to Call a Professional

If you have a basement drain blockage that won’t unclog, never hesitate to call Garvin’s Sewer Service. If you can’t do it safely yourself, we will get your basement drain unclogged and functioning properly again in no time.