It’s your responsibility as the homeowner to take good care of your sewer drains. To help you out, here are tips given by drain cleaning services providers on how to maintain your sewer pipes:
Make use of hot water
Hot water is only good for drinking, right? Wrong. There are many ways in which you can use the water. When it comes to your drains, you should make a habit of pouring the water down the drain pipes at least once a week. If possible, pour it at the end of the working day.
Pouring the water down the pipes prevents grease and leftover food from sticking to the insides of the pipes thus clogging them up. As a consequence, you don’t have to worry about your sewer lines clogging and having to unclog them.
The hotter the water is, the better. The amount of water you use depends on the size of your sewer lines.
Use homemade cleaning products
If you ask many homeowners how they clean their drains, they will tell you that they use chemicals to do it. The cool thing with chemicals is that they give instant results. The bad side of it is that they can be harmful to you and even to the sewer pipes.
Instead of using chemicals, you should use homemade cleaners. One of the best cleaners to use is vinegar. In addition to vinegar being easy to find, it gives excellent results, when you use it regularly.
All you need to do is to pour one cup of it down the drains and wait for at least 30 minutes after which you should rinse your sewer lines with hot water. Regular use of vinegar ensures that any leftover food breaks up and dissolves. This leaves your sewer lines clean thus eliminating the chances of them clogging up.
Catch the food when draining
It’s easy for food to escape when you are draining it over the sink. As you might have guessed, this would result in clogging in the event too large particles of food get down your drains. For you to prevent the food from getting down the pipes, you should make use of a capture plug.
You also should consider emptying the food into a bin instead of rinsing it down the drain.
Are you scared that hair will get into your bathroom drains? Don’t be. You should get a strainer that will catch the hair preventing it from going down the drain pipe.
Regularly clean the drains
While it might seem like an obvious way of keeping your sewer lines clear, you will be shocked by the number of homeowners that rarely clean their sewer lines. For you to maintain sanity in your drains you should clean the lines regularly. A simple act such as pouring hot water down the drains at the end of the day goes a long way.
In addition to cleaning the drains daily, you also should hire a drain contractor at least once a year to inspect your sewer lines and give them a thorough cleaning.
Get rid of clogs as soon as possible
When homeowners notice a clog, most of them ignore it, especially if the clog isn’t large. For example, when the homeowners notice their drains running slower than usual, most of them don’t take action as the drains are still running. This is wrong for the health of your sewer lines.
The best way of going about it is getting rid of the clog as soon as you notice it. One of the best tools to use in getting rid of the clog is a plunger. For you to get ideal results from the plunger you should use the right one.
When buying the tool, go for one with a flange on the rubber end. The flange gives extra plunging power as it fits the drain better.
For you to unclog the sewer line, you should place the bell of the plunger over the drain and work it up and down. By doing so, the air inside the rubber end will be forced down the drain, unclogging within just a few minutes.
Sewer cleaning companies NYC also recommend that you use a snake in the event the plunger doesn’t get the work done. All you need to do is to work the cable back and forth, breaking the clog. You should then pour hot water down the drain and flush it.