How Often Should Drains Be Cleaned?

Typically, there is no standard time phase for cleaning your drains. However, based on the size of your household and your frequent use of drain sinks, studies and experts recommend cleaning your gutters after every two years or regularly. Likewise, cleaning can be done periodically, especially if your plumbing system is old or you’ve got an extensive plumbing system next to your sewer line. Moreover, to know why drain maintenance is important, it’s good to understand the common problems that require regular or immediate cleaning.

Common Drain Problems Requiring Drain Cleaning

Generally, your drains are prone to clogging and other components that can cause them problems, such as grease, food particles, and hair. Elements like dirt and other small objects can and will also interfere with your drains’ proper functioning, hence the need for cleaning. Some of the common problems that need immediate cleaning attention include:

Slow Drainage

Slow water drainage is mainly due to clogging. The common causes of clogs include grease, soap, and fat used in your household’s daily chores. When these materials accumulate inside your drain pipes, they choke the system and prevent water from flowing freely. Also, food debris tends to go down your kitchen sink and stick or hang for a long time in your drain, creating a clog preventing enough space for water to flow efficiently.  Oils are also common causes of slow drainage, mainly since they stick together and eventually stop water flow by collecting particles together, creating clogs.

Alternatively, food particles bound up with oils and grease worsening the clogs. When this happens, other elements like coffee grounds and eggshells that would have passed through quickly also stuck as sediments increasing the clogging and slow drainage problem. At the same time, it can be tempting to ignore a slow drain, but it is always an indication that your system has clogged and needs immediate cleaning before it worsens.  Slow drainage also indicates minerals and other elements on the drain piping; hence cleaning will eradicate elements and open a way for water to flow easily.

Sewage Like –Smelling Drains

If you’ve got a property connected to the town or municipal sewer lines, one of the common drain problems you’ll want immediate cleaning is a musty smell. Usually, you’ll smell foul odors from the drains indicating materials are coming in from the sewer lines. Also, smelling results from pollutant-build ups, which mostly require professional drain cleaning, especially when stubborn elements like grease stick inside pipes.  Again, other reasons behind foul-smelling drains include odor-causing bacteria feeding on debris inside the drain pipes or mold growing on warm and wet spaces inside the drain. Odor–causing bacterial usually results from fouling smelling hydrogen sulfide gas they produce through excretion, while molds cause clogging that smells bad.

Replace Gutters

Replacing your gutter system after winter damage, or after clogging your drains in the shower, can be a difficult task. They are usually made from wood, plastic and metal materials that are not easy to find replacements for. The best answer is to buy a complete aluminium gutters replacement that will provide you with a sturdy and beautiful design for both your rooftop and the exterior of the house.

Recurring Shower Clogs

Recurring shower clogs indicate your bathroom sinks and tubs contain stuck-up elements preventing the efficient flow of water. It may be hair or soap particles stuck inside the drain pipes or clogs from your sewer lines. Soap scum and hair create hard-to-remove clogs, thus the need for immediate professional cleaning.

Problems With Your Drain Vent Pipes

Vent pipes operate as the parts of your drain system that maintain air pressure between pipes. They keep the neutral air pressure in the drain piping system allowing water to flow down the lines and also compress air ahead of it to create a partial vacuum for efficient flowing. They also allow air to flow in and out of the drain pipes filling back the vacuum space and equalize the air pressure, enabling better water flow. 

Without vents pipes, your drain system will create unequal air pressure, which slows down water drainage causing slowness and clogs, especially when particles move slowly. Vent pipe problems can also result from heavy snowfalls. If your drain system is connected inside, materials like food spills can also obstruct vents pipe, especially when you’ve got water flowing slowly.

Issues With Your Property Septic Unit

A more comprehensive range of materials can cause sludge to go back into your sewer line and the drain system within the house septic system. When this happens, you’ll experience slow drainage, which can be expensive and bothersome to handle unless drains are professionally cleaned.

Benefits Of Cleaning Your Drains On Time

Before starting the sewer drain cleaning process, you first need to determine the location of the clog. Sometimes sewer blockages happen near the entrance of sewer lines where the soil ends and the sewer line starts; this is usually a good place to start.

Like cleaning other areas inside and outside your property, clean drain pipes come with lasting benefits. You’ll enjoy the prevention of noises from behind your walls and lower water bills. Additionally, other advantages include:

Increasing Your Pipe’s Lifespan

Your drain pipes last long when regularly cleaned and maintained. Corrosion reduces the lifespan of the lines and also increases the odds of leaking. Leaky pipes increase utility bills hence increases your plumbing maintenance cost.

Saving

Improperly maintained and clogged plumbing units corrode, causing leaks which increases water bills and maintenance costs. Luckily, cleaning prevents clogs and growth of mildew or molds hence help you reduce maintenances thus save more. Usually, you can save more by cleaning your drains regularly if you use them consistently or annually.