Three Tips for Maintaining Functional Drains

An incredible amount of debris and other problematic materials will enter your drains and cause clogs. These blockages can result in bursts or cracks and can lead to waste water backing up and filling a sink, bath, or worse.

Keeping absolutely everything out of your drains is impossible, and your pipes will be able to handle a little bit of fat and grease or some hair, but within reason. In this blog, we will go through some good habits you can employ to keep your pipes running smoothly.

If you are facing drainage issues or would like to arrange for some work or maintenance, give us a call now on 0808 164 0776.

The Boiling Water Technique

A lot of blockage debris builds up quite close to the plughole. This can be encouraged to move on relatively quickly, as it is accessible. In fact, there is plenty that you can do on your own to force the clog onwards.

A good practice to make a weekly or fortnightly routine is to boil a full kettle of water and pour it down each plughole in your home. The boiling water can help to dislodge anything clinging to the side of the pipes, especially fats and greases.

Of course, this method can only do so much, as the boiling water will very quickly cool down within the pipes. In fact, within a matter of a few metres, the boiling water will have significantly cooled and will take much less effect.

Arrange for Professional Maintenance

The nature of drainage systems means that it is very inaccessible which can make it difficult, if not impossible, to make any kind of difference without specialist training and equipment. As mentioned, there are mostly preventative measures you can take, but none of them are foolproof.

However, professional drain cleaning can help to force any potential clogs within your pipes onwards before they become a problem. By blasting off and cutting through anything that is clinging to the side of your pipes, or has gathered into a lump, you can make sure they are running at optimum.

The water which can cut through just about anything within the pipes will be utterly harmless to the pipes itself. This means that the process will not reduce the lifespan of your pipes, unlike other options like corrosive drain cleaners which are also significantly less effective.

There is no fool-proof method for making sure that your drains remain free from blockages at all times, yet drain jetting is unarguably the most efficient and cost-effective way of doing so.

The entire process from start to finish can only take a couple of hours and more often than not our technicians will not even need access to the house. The entire process is painless, which cannot be said for any clogs or blockages which might crop up and cause a flood.

Use Plughole Guards

Plughole guards serve as a final line of defence for your drainage system. No matter how vigilant you might be, the nature of drainage systems means that debris is nonetheless going to make its way into the pipes.

There are certain products that we can place on our plugholes which will allow water to flow through while obstructing any larger objects.

You have probably seen the metal plughole ‘catchers’ for kitchens which will gather any large food pieces or morsels which end up in the sink. These can just be taken out of the plughole and emptied into the bin, reducing the chance that they will gather in a blockage and obstruct water flow.

There are also options for showers and baths, intended to catch any hair that falls away from your head while washing. When you are finished, you can just gather it all up and place it into the bin directly.

If you have anyone in the house with long hair then you will be well aware just how much can actually gather, so make sure you take steps to prevent it.

Get in Touch

Drainage systems are often not at the forefront of our attention, although this is usually a mistake which can be incredibly costly. However, Clark Drainage can take care of any problems which you might have and provide emergency responses round-the-clock 365 days a year.

To reach us immediately at any time of the day, give us a call now on 0808 164 0776.

Alternatively, complete our contact form, and one of our friendly personnel will be in touch with you as soon as possible.