The beginning of a drain blockage can be seemingly harmless. The water might start bubbling up in the sink and/or drain slower than normal. It may even back up into another sink or bathtub. And you might have to experience a small domestic drama with a plumber. Here is how plumbers tackle a clogged drain.
How Do You Know When Your Main Sewer Drain Is Clogged?
1. When the water drains out of the pipes slower than usual and you are unable to remedy this with a plunger or chemical drain cleaner. You have made several attempts but all to no avail.
2. The water goes up into the bathtub after you flush the toilet.
3. Your sink or toilet fill up with water when you start using the washing machine.
The toilet drain pipe is larger than the other lines in the system. It also has the most direct route to the septic source. Therefore, as long as you have no problems flushing the toilet the blockage in the sink, bathtub or shower shouldn’t be hard to fix.
Tips How To Clear A Main Line Blockage
1. Shut the water off from the main supply.
2. Then look around in your yard or basement and try to find the cleanout in the sewer pipe. It shouldn’t be hard to see. Usually it’s a short 4 -inch pipe diameter with a screw-on cap with a square nut or indentation on top. More than likely this pipe will be protruding from the ground somewhere outside the house between the foundation and the road. It also might be off the side of the house where the bathroom is. If you can’t locate it you should contact a plumber.
3. Remove the cap with your hands. If it proves too hard use a wrench to loosen the cap and then take it off. You should do it slowly to prevent any backed up water from gushing out. Be ready to step aside if it does. You might want to wear waterproof boots and gloves.
4. Your goal is to let the water out. By releasing the pressure in the sewage line you are letting the excess water drain out.
Main Line Pipe Still Clogged?
Once you reinstall the cleanout cap and test the drain and find it’s still draining slow call a plumber.
What do plumbers use to unclog drains?
Plumbers use different methods and a variety of tools to remove drain blockages. Some of the things they use are electric power augers (also known as plumbing snakes) and high pressure water jetters (plumbing jetters, jet-sets). They may even put an inspection camera down the pipe to examine the problem.
- Powerful motorized augers have long steel cables with a tip that has blades on the end and revolves very much like a drill does. They can clean out lines that are 50-150 feet long. The motor turns the blade equipped tip and feeds the cable into the drain. With a push of the switch the two-way feed will push the cable forward or pull it back. And the blades cut through the blockage. Plumbing snakes are sent down a drain into the plumbing system in your home closest to the blockage.
- High-pressure water cleaning systems are used to break through grease, sand and even ice! However, they will not remove tree roots that get inside the drain line. This method is used when a blockage is too far down for an auger to reach. Plumbing jetters clean out water lines with powerful jets of water. They are able to reach as far down your pipes as four hundred feet.
