Pro Tips: Follow This Guide to Keep Your Drains From Clogging Up
Seeing your shower or sink back up with dirty water can make you groan. Clearly something is blocking the drain and preventing it from working properly… but what could it be? A clogged drain can be an inconvenience that quickly becomes a smelly mess, so knowing how to prevent clogs and deal with them is a key skill for any homeowner. Many clogs can be fixed with a little DIY elbow grease, but for bigger jobs it’s best to look into honest plumbing companies in Las Vegas, NV to handle persistent drainage issues.
As with many home maintenance problems, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Here are some quick tips to keep drain issues from cropping up in the first place.
Dispose of Grease Properly
During cooking cleanup, the temptation can be to simply wash everything down the kitchen sink, maybe run the disposal, and be done with it. Unfortunately, you might be really harming your drain. Cooking grease is one of the biggest culprits of drain clogs. It might look like it’s just washing away, but in reality, it could be solidifying in your pipes once it cools down. This can lead to serious blockages that require a call to an honest plumbing company in Las Vegas, NV.
Prevent this by disposing of cooking grease into a container like a metal coffee can, then throwing the can away when it’s full. For amateur chefs, saving bacon grease or fat drippings can be a great way to grease the pan next time you want a little seasoning in your skillet.
Practice Basic Cleaning
There are a few easy ways you can consistently clean your drain out. For starters, run hot water through it after a period of extended use (like cleaning up after dinner). This will make sure that any sorts of oils continue on down the pipes into the sewer. This ensures they don’t have the chance to solidify and cause the big problems noted above.
You can also throw a handful of baking soda or a cup of vinegar in the drain every now and then and wash it down with hot water. This will help with any smells that might be coming from your drain, and the cleaning action will dislodge any lingering particles that might lead to blockages.
Don’t Dump Coffee Grounds Down the Drain
Coffee grounds are another major contributor to drain blockages. While it seems like they’re being flushed away with no fuss, they can actually bind up garbage disposals and grab on to other blockages, making them bigger and harder to deal with. It’s best to compost coffee grounds or simply throw them away.
Even in spite of your best efforts to treat your drains right, problems can still arise at any time. When they do, call an honest plumbing company in Las Vegas, NV to help you address any clogging issue that home remedies can’t handle.
Clogged drains are one of our specialties, and all plumbers employed at Orchard Plumbing know how to quickly and professionally work with any type of drain.