The Causes of Clogged Drains

Cleaning out drains may be the most dreaded part of regular home maintenance. If you have pets, family members with long hair, or children who are fond of shoving small objects in unlikely places, then you’re probably already familiar with the foul-smelling masses that often hide in the drains of our bathtubs and sinks. The questions remains: how does it happen? Sure, you shed a little hair here and there, but how does it all culminate in that rat-sized ball of nastiness clogging your drain? Here are a few common causes of clogged drains?

Below you will find some of the more common causes of clogged drains. If you have clogged drains, contact the best rooter services Highland Park has available. New Generation Plumbing is o your side every step of the way.

The Power of Hair

It may surprise you to know that the interior of your drain isn’t perfectly smooth. Small mineral deposits, soap build-up, and miniature irregularities inside the pipe are all great places for hair to catch. Once a hair is snagged in a drain, it’s unlikely to get flushed through by additional water because it naturally moves with the current, reducing any potential resistance to negligible levels. Now, any hair can get caught in this manner, but long hair is the worst.

Once a long hair is caught along the interior of a drain, it is more likely to catch other hairs that flow past it. Over time, more and more strands of hair knot together, creating a mass that grows exponentially larger by the day. Acting like a fine mesh, the hair will start to catch residual soap and shampoo, creating a more complete blockage. If it isn’t removed, drainage could be significantly slower or entirely stopped, leaving you with a real mess on your hands.

Soap isn’t Always Clean

You’re probably already familiar with soap scum. It builds up around the water level of your tub and bathroom sink, and it requires a little elbow grease to remove every time. Unfortunately, soap scum isn’t just accumulating in the places you can reach. It is also gradually building up along the inside of your drains.

Over time, the layer of soap scum inside your drain gets thicker and thicker. If you’re using bars of soap, the build-up can happen much faster as larger chunks of soap get washed down the drain. Fortunately, you can usually deal with soap scum before it becomes serious if you know what to do.

Start by pouring baking soda down your drain. Let it sit for a few minutes and flush the drain with vinegar. Leave it to sit for about half an hour, then flush the drain again with boiling hot water. The chemical reaction that takes place is usually sufficient to dislodge the majority of the soap scum clogging your drain along with any hair and other debris that was clinging to the soap.

Grease Gets in the Way

Like soap, grease can start to coat the interior of a drain over time. As it thickens, food particles get stuck along the pipe, making the problem infinitely worse. You can treat a grease clog early by flushing the drain with equal parts vinegar and boiling water.

Causes of Clogged Drains: When to Call the Professionals

Unfortunately, unless you’re doing regular drain maintenance, most of us don’t notice a clog until it’s already pretty severe. It may start with your shower retaining a little more water than usual or your sink seeming a little slow, but that means you’ve already lost a lot of your drain’s capacity. At this point, you can try the abovementioned DIY drain cleaners, but they are unlikely to work on a serious clog.

In these cases, you’ll need to call in a professional plumbing contractor Pasadena. With years of experience and access to all the best equipment, New Generation Plumbing’s drain services can deal with your problem drains and advise you on future maintenance to prevent the situation from recurring. No mess, no stress, just drains that work.