Clogged drains are not anything unusual in a household. Materials such as hair, grease, silt, leaves and more are accumulated in the drain pipes after a period of time. This is when blocks are created and the water does not flow easily. It has been observed that kitchen sinks, bath tubs and toilets are the places that get clogged more often than other drains. Regular drain cleaning is the key to keeping your drains running properly.

Clogged drains are not just a nuisance for your family members, they can be very unhygienic. Drain maintenance in London or anywhere else is absolutely crucial so as to avoid any health hazards. The things that are left unnoticed such as overflowing drains and pipes turn into a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria. Ignoring a blocked drain can lead to serious problems like allergies, skin infections and other disease. It can even cause structural problems for your house as well.

Thus, every homeowner should try to carry out drain maintenance at regular intervals to avoid messy and problematic situations like these.

Avoid throwing any leftover food from the plates into your sink. Also, try to avoid flushing any greasy food particles down your drain while cleaning. This will go a long way in preventing your sinks from getting blocked.

Another important thing you should not do is flush baby nappies in your toilet. You should also make use of strainers in all problem places so that you can stop unwanted things from flowing down your drains.

Also, create a regular drain maintenance schedule so that you do not get any drain clog nightmares.

Sometimes, no matter how often you clean the drainage system of your building, clogs can develop in your drainage setup. Indoor clogs are usually easier to deal with, but outdoor clogs can be bigger and present in larger pipes. This may make them a little harder to clear. We will now discuss a few ways to clear such clogs.

If the clog is indoors then your drain cleaning will be relatively easy. Tools come in very handy when dealing with such clogs. Hand spinners can help you clear clogs with control over how much force you are putting into it. There are also sink machines and snakes which can reach down the drain and push the stuck debris out of the way to restore water flow. Snakes are better than plungers since they do not splash unhygienic sewage water. There are also drain flushers and sewer tapes, though to reach the P-bends beneath sinks you will need to use a wrench.

In outdoor drainage, the most important is the main drain. A blockage in the main drain can affect backflow in all indoor drainage systems, from the kitchen to the bathroom. The outdoor drains are often damaged by tree roots, ground movement and overhead traffic. For blockages, there are heavy duty sewer snakes available to reach down the length of the pipe. There are also electric-powered snakes available which do the job more effectively. A sink machine, auger or water ram can be used for both indoor and outdoor drain maintenance purposes.

People often make the condition worse by trying to do all the work themselves. If you feel that the clog is very stubborn, then it is advisable to call a professional plumbing company and let them tackle the job.

You must have faced the ignominy of a blocked drain at some time or another. Right to the point where the water just sits in your sink or your bath, refusing to move. The blockage may be moderate or severe, depending on what is walled up in your pipeline. Below are a few tips that will hopefully ease your drain pain.

A garbage grinder

Usually we end up dumping stuff that we aren’t supposed to dump into a drain; chunks of food, tea and coffee grinds. One sure way of ensuring that large chunks of food don’t slip down your drain is to install a garbage grinder in your sink or kitchen. A garbage disposal will grind up large pieces of rubbish and keep your drain from clogging.

The baking powder solution

A simple way is to use a chemical-based solution which you can get from any supermarket or grocery store. This will dissolve fat and grease clogs that have accumulated in your drain.

Here’s an effective home remedy. First pour a cup of baking powder down your drain, then about a quarter cup of vinegar, followed by half a cup of steaming water. Let the solution run down your pipe for half an hour. Finish with another run of hot water.

Periodic runs of hot water are effective in keeping your drains clog-free and will also keep the foul odour to a minimum. You will know that your drain has a block when the hot water starts to drain slowly. If the air turns foul, it means that there is rotting and mouldy food lodged somewhere. Then it’s time to use the baking powder routine.

There are excellent plumbing solutions available for people residing in London. But you can also take care of your drainage system by cleaning it regularly and avoiding emergency calls to plumbers.

Sometime a plumbing problem cannot be avoided, but often the severity and frequency of such problems can be controlled by timely actions taken on your part. Like they say, a stitch in time saves nine. Running boiling hot tap water through your drainage system once in a while for instance can really help in removing the excess debris which may be blocking the pipes in your home. Some vinegar and half a cup of baking soda can be poured down the drain if you need a stronger solution for the more stubborn clogs.

Toilets can also be unclogged by draining some hot water and baking soda, though you should be careful as if the water is too hot it can cause damage to the porcelain parts of the toilet. In such cases, it is always better to call a professional plumber as no one would want sewage water to flow back through their toilet.

For the very severe clogs there are harsh acids and other chemical agents available. You may be tempted to use them yourself to save some money on plumbers, but if used too often or in an incorrect way, they can cause a lot more problem than they solve. You may end up spending a lot more than you were trying to save as they may cause damage to your plumbing system.

Professional plumbers have various other techniques like snaking, rodding and high pressure water jetting etc. which are much more effective. So what we all need to keep in mind is that though one should care about the cleanliness and maintenance of their drainage, it is always better to leave the work to the professionals.

Drain cleaning can be exhaustive and strenuous if you decide to do it all on your own. Gathering all the required equipment and devices, while also going through the different instruction manuals about how to use them, can leave you in frenzy. The drain cleaning part will further add to the ordeal. There is also the chance that the drain is not completely cleared out and this could cause another clog again soon. All this can be sorted with just one phone call to a professional plumbing company.

Why ring up a professional drain cleaning company?

There are a number of companies for drain cleaning in London and surrounding areas. These companies have the expertise needed to clean a clogged drain or pipe. They possess the necessary tools and equipment and can easily check for the exact reason that caused the clog in the first place – whether it is in your toilet, bathtub, sink or the outer sewer lines.

The moment they find the exact location of a clog, the team gets to work on the necessary drain repairs. Your drains will be absolutely functional within just a few hours. If an inexperienced person tries to clean their drains, they will only end up wasting a large amount of time, money and energy.

These drain cleaning professionals do not just save on time but also do a thorough job when it comes to clearing the drains. They will do it is so well that you do not have to worry about any drain plumbing problems for a very long time. In a way, calling on the professionals will save you from buying unnecessary drain cleaning tools that you may not use very often.