Effective Fixes to Clear Any Blocked Drain in Your Home

Tips To Clear Any Blocked Drain

Introduction

The drains in most of the homes keep flowing without any issues. But if you have started facing this issue, this will be an unpleasant experience. You will often feel a nasty smell coming from the sink, as if someone hasn’t flushed the toilet. In such a case, the drain might be partially or fully blocked with something unwanted. This will be resolved if we remove the blockage or overtake the issue causing it.

Although you can call a plumber or sink-drain specialist to bring the drain into the working state, it’s suggestive of trying it yourself. Suppose the issue remains. In such a case, you can call a professional to resolve the issue. If you have chosen to open the drain by yourself, you have to identify the reason and try different solutions given in this article. Let’s explore signs, reasons, and fixes here!

Signs of a Blocked Drain

Several reasons could cause a blocked drain, but before that, it’s essential to reveal some situations when you can assume it’s actually blocked. The possible signs of a blocked drain are as follows:

Overflowing: The first and most obvious sign that a drain is blocked is overflowing. If you find your sink spitting out wastewater or your toilet overflowing when you flush, it’s apparent that the drainage is blocked.
Stinky smell: Suppose you have started facing some unusual sewage-like smell from the sink. In such a case, it’s most probably blocked. This is why you’re sensing some bad smell coming back into the room instead of going into the sewage system.
Slow draining: If the speed of draining is continuously decreasing every day, it means the drain is blocking. Although the water is flowing, it’s better to take some necessary steps before the situation becomes worse.

Causes of a Blocked Drain

Even if you use the drains in your home correctly or take care of them, these can still be blocked. This is because there are several reasons behind the blockage that may also be related to external factors. To better understand this, let’s uncover possible reasons that could be behind a blocked drain!

Household hardware items: The first and most common reason that can block a drain is the presence of one or multiple household hardware items. Maybe your daughter has thrown a tennis ball into the toilet or in the drain’s opening, which has caused a drain to block, or sanitary products, nappies, or baby wipes can cause the drain to block.
Food items: All the food items or eatables don’t belong to the sink. Instead, they must be thrown into the trash bin. In addition, even the cooking oil must not be put into the sink with the water since it can clump with the food debris and become blocked, causing the drain to stop working. In short, if you’re putting the food scraped into the sink, it might be causing the drain to block.
Tree roots: Although tree roots are one of the common reasons that may cause sewage systems to block, they can also block a local drain. Suppose you have grown some trees near the drainage system, which may cause the blockage. In such a case, the roots of the trees keep growing, damaging the drainage pipes and blocking the pipes and flow.
Others: Other than the above listed, other things could cause a blocked drain which includes; hairs, cat litter, natural debris, soap, etc.

Fixes for Blocked Drain

Identifying the exact reason behind the drain blockage is essential before implementing different solutions. This is because there are several causes why a drain is blocked, so we have to apply relevant solutions according to the problem. But you can try all the solutions below if you can’t find the exact issue behind the blockage. Try the following fixes to clean a blocked drain:

1. Pour hot water with a cleaner.

We must start the drain unblocking process by pouring some hot water mixed with a potent cleaning agent to open the blockage. This method is beneficial for opening the blockages caused by cooking oil, soap, or cooking oil and food residues. The step-by-step process includes as follows:

Step 1: Make hot water ready

You have to start the process by making a tub of water hot so we can use it in the next steps.
For this, you can either boil the water or fetch it from the electric water heater installed in your home.
Once you have prepared hot water, pour it into a tub.

Step 2: Pour it with a cleaner.

Pour the hot water into the drain using the tub or other tools.
Add natural cleaner like baking soda or a cup of vinegar into the drain. Once done, pour some more water and leave it for 10 minutes.
You can also use caustic cleaners to take some intensive actions. These are available at general stores.
Flush the toilet or the sink to check whether it’s opened.

Note: The blockage must be opened up to this point if it is due to grease, cooking oil, food residue, etc. If not, try the next fix.

2. Plungers

Unblocking the drain using plungers is the most commonly used method. If hot water doesn’t work, you can use this method immediately to quickly open the drain. All you need is a plunger and water in the pipes; if there is no water, this method will not work, which is its downside. The steps in this method are as follows:

Place the plunger over the drain opening, sinkhole, and push it in. This will push the water downward to create a vacuum effect.
Once the vacuum is created, and you can feel it, pull the plunger out.
Keep repeating this push-pull process until the drain is opened.

3. Try Insertion Tactics

You can also use various insertion tactics, in which we insert different tools into the drain to open blocking. Those include as follows:

Hydro jet

The hydro-jet method uses intense high-pressure water bursts in the drain pipes to remove a few rough materials like debris. It’s an ideal way to remove all types of mid-hard materials from the drain and improves the water flow.

CCTV

This method is used to check the exact blockage point in the drain to better find its solution. In the CCTV tactic, a camera is inserted with a unique tool into the drain to assess the stringency of the blockage.

DIY Drain Snake

Suppose you have identified and the blockage isn’t far away to access. In such a case, you can DIY a snake-like structure with a metal wire, having a hook at the end. Insert into the hole and try removing (fishing out) the hardware materials or hair causing the blockage.

Plumbers Drain Snake

Professionals use plumber drain snakes since these are advanced tools, and only experts know how to use them. If you want to use it, insert it into the drain, delve further into the pipe, and remove the problematic blockage.

4. Replace the drain’s affected part.

The final step to resolve the drain blockage issue is to excavate the part of the supply line where the issue occurred. Once you have analysed the drain blockage with the CCTV camera and confirmed that it has some severe issues, you can use this solution. Remember, it’s suggested to call an expert plumber or someone who knows this job well to avoid complications. This is done as follows:

Step 1: Dig the appropriate drain’ part.

Carefully excavate and dig the appropriate part of the drain where the blockage is taking place.
Carefully access the problematic part of the pipe without affecting the other parts.

Step 2: Remove and connect a new supply system.

There is a considerable chance that the pipe could be either completely blocked or damaged.
In both situations, cut the specific part and install a new one.

Step 3: Fit together everything.

This is the final part of altering the supply system or drain.
In this step, we finalise that the alterations we have just done are going well, and water is flowing inside it.
Once you have assured this, construct the part you excavated.