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Given the crucial job done by drains in your Brandon, FL home, it’s always frustrating when they stop working as well as they should. This causes them to become unable to take water and waste liquids out of your home, which itself causes other undesirable outcomes for both your convenience and your entire plumbing system.
All of that makes it important for you to be aware of things you can do to avoid the blocking of your drains, as well as signs you need to watch out for so you can know when the best move is to request plumbing repair.
Warning Signs Of A Blocked Drain
When dealing with a blocked drain, the best thing to do is to call a professional service that offers plumbing repair. It’s always best to do this at the earliest opportunity, meaning you need to be able to spot the initial signs of a blocked drain:
- Unpleasant Odors
One of the easiest ways to tell if you have a blocked drain is to pay attention to signs of an unpleasant odor. This is usually the result of food debris building up in the drain and not being able to wash away. As the food decomposes and more piles on top of it, it starts giving off a bad smell which only gets worse as you keep turning the tap on and off.
It’s best to call for repair as soon as you notice the smell, as it only gets worse the longer you wait.
- Slow Drainage
Slow drainage gives you an early warning sign that your drain might be blocked. The slower the drainage, the more serious the problem and urgently you need to get it dealt with. The slow drainage itself is the result of water needing to find its way around lumps of food debris, grease or whatever might be causing the blockage.
- Raised Water Levels
Water rising above normal levels when you flush your toilet is a sign that they may be a blockage. If the water keeps rising until it reaches the point of overflowing, however, that points to a problem that may be more severe than just a blockage, making it necessary to look into calling for plumbing repair.
- Gurgling Sounds
When there’s a strange gurgling sound coming from your plug holes or drains, you should take that as a probable sign of blockage. The sound is simply the result of air that has been trapped in the drain and is now escaping because you’ve run the water.
When you start spotting these signs, it’s likely that your drain has already been blocked and nothing less than plumbing repair can help get your plumbing system to a functional state again. Still, it doesn’t always have to get that far before you start doing something about it. There are steps you can to make sure that the drains in your Brandon, FL home stay free of blockage.
Hot Water
The easiest and cheapest way to keep your drains cleared is to simply pour hot water down them. This is best done as soon as you suspect that you’ve perhaps sent oil or fat down the drain. Pouring hot water as quickly as possible ensures that the fat, oil or grease are washed out before they solidify and become much more difficult to deal with.
Bear in mind, however, that some PVC pipes may not be able to handle constantly receiving hot water, which may cause joints within them to loosen, necessitating urgent plumbing repair.
Again, a porcelain sink isn’t always able to handle boiling water quite as well as sinks made from other materials. Pouring boiling water into it may cause it to crack. Instead of pouring the water into the sink, simply pour it directly down the drain.
Being Careful What You Flush
The items you flush down your toilet play an important role in how your drains hold up. Flushing the wrong items can mean you don’t just end up with a blocked drain but you might also have to deal with a flooded home. Though a good rule of thumb is to avoid flushing that you intuitively think might not carry away easily, some common items to keep out of the toilet include feminine products, dental floss, gum, nappies and baby wipes.
Regular Maintenance
Some of the problems you may experience with your drain don’t always show signs as early as they take root. In fact, in many cases, homeowners only learn that their drains haven’t been in the best shape long after the issue began. Regular maintenance ensures that a professional is able to spot problems easily, sometimes before they start causing any inconvenience at all, and deliver plumbing repair to ensure that you suffer minimal disruption from a faulty drain.
Calling A Professional
Though it may be tempting to investigate the problem yourself and find a way to fix it, that often ends in the problem being even worse than when you instead. Instead, you should call for a plumbing repair service to ensure that the problem is not only dealt with, but it’s handled in such a way that it doesn’t recur or cause knock-on problems.
It always helps to gather as much detail as you can before you call for plumbing repair, but if the problem is so severe that it’s causing flooding, make the call as soon as possible. That way, you’ll be able to save your home from your home appliances from damage while ensuring less of your plumbing system continues to get damaged.
A blocked drain can be a highly inconvenient problem, especially when it’s spotted long after it’s taken root. If the signs are spotted early enough though, solving the issue is as easy as picking up the phone and calling a plumbing repair service. If the drain in your home is causing you issues, call us at Drain Flo Plumbing to receive that gets your plumbing system back in top shape and restores your peace of mind.
