What are Drain Cleaning services?
If your drains could talk, the stories they would tell. Your drains are workhorses; they take food, waste, and water from every fixture in your home to the sewers of your city. But, they never seem to get the credit they deserve for doing the dirty jobs. And to continue our Summer articles on Drains and everything there is to know about them, we are here to help.
Drains, what are they made of?
Your home’s drains are most likely made of cast iron or plastic. The cast iron is the older style of pipe used that not as popular as it once was. Plastic drains are made with a compound called Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene or ABS for short. This plastic is durable and has fewer issues than Cast Iron in the long term.
Why is ABS sometimes considered better than Cast Iron?
Cast Iron has some unique issues that are causing it to be phased out, the main one is corrosion. Over time cast iron gets worn down and begins to corrode. This leads to cracks and leaks, and the last thing you want is a leaking cast iron main line. The second issue is pitting and roughage. As cast iron ages, it begins to get pits that catch debris going down their line such as toilet paper. When toilet paper and similar items get caught on the sides of the pipe it can create massive stoppages. And as we have talk about before, many of these stoppages will require a plumbing technician to dislodge.
Do you need to clean your drains regularly?
The answer is not so black and white. If you have had regular stoppages, then yes. If you have a lot of trees, plants, or former plant matter near your drains, then yes. Otherwise it is up to you. It cannot hurt to have it done once every few years to help with any buildup organic or not.
If you answered yes, then we suggest at least annually having your drains cleaned. We will come out to your home and use our state of the art hydro jetter to scour clean your drains. While doing so we will also use our camera system to get a clean and concise video of your drains. Healthy drains will lead to more savings and less headaches down the line. We recently wrote an article on all our drain services.
Also be sure to read our blog on drain cleaning products to learn what you can and cannot use, and why.
My drain is cracked and leaking, what do I do?
First you test out for fixtures to see which one makes the noticed leak increase. Once that is done, stop using that fixture. Then, call us, we will come out there and remove and replace the affected line.
