Unblock Your Sewer Drain With These 4 Tips

Imagine coming home to a smelly blocked drain and being unable to take a long bath to freshen up!

If you have faced this situation, you will know how helpless one can feel. To top it all, daily activities are hindered, and you cannot function normally in your own house.

However, every problem has a solution, and we will also help you find one for this case. In the following section, we will walk you through detecting a blocked sewage drain and provide expert tips to eliminate the blockage.

So, let’s begin!

How To Detect A Blocked Sewage Drain

A plumber will first need to find the cause of the blockage area before being able to treat a blocked drain. This will require a careful inspection of the plumbing system, which can be done with a CCTV camera.

The plumber can then check the damage and see if the sewer lines need to be cleaned. He can also use the camera to detect the type of blockages so that the plumber knows what he’s dealing with.

Remember that a blocked sewer drain line may not need to be replaced immediately. Simply cleaning it may restore it, meaning you won’t have to spend much on it.

However, for sewer lines that are damaged and old, you may need to replace the pipes. Also, if the camera shows that tree roots have gotten inside the pipes, the sewer pipes may need to be replaced.

Now the best way to deal with these plumbing issues is pipe relining. The best plumbing services use this technique to give your pipes new lives without digging or breaking through your property. It involves creating another layer inside the sewer line to cover any holes or cracks in the existing walls.

How To Unblock Sewer Drains?

1. Using High-Pressure Jetters

Water jetters are long pipes or hoses with a nozzle, which go into the pipes and use high water pressure to move the sewage stuck inside. These will slowly feed through the pipe and keep cleaning it as it moves forward.

2. Electric Augers

Plumbing snakes or drain auger consists of steel cables with a rotating bladed tip, which will move like a drill and unblock a drain. If toilet paper or other foreign objects are stuck inside the sewer line, you can use this.

The blades will rotate and break down any obstruction along the way. You can then use a high-pressure jetter or simply boiling water to remove the excess junk inside the pipeline.

3. Natural Remedies

If you feel that the clogged drains are letting water pass through, but the movement of water is happening slowly, then you can try using home remedies like hot water.

Take a big container of hot water and drain it through the sinkhole of the blocked sewer drain. This should melt the grease and dirt stuck inside to clear the path.

On the other hand, you can use a baking soda and water solution for the sewer system. As a result, the grease or blockage will be melted by a fizzy chemical reaction. You can then pour hot water to clear the path.

For PVC pipes, use hot, not boiling, tap water instead.

4. Using A Drain Snake

A DIY drain snake can be used to clear sewer blockages in small drains. It consists of a metal pipe with a small spring or an auger on one side for unblocking drains. And we strongly recommend keeping drain snakes handy to deal with sudden small-scale sewage drain blockages.

Using the snake involves putting the metal snake inside the drain and using the auger to push and break down any clogs on the way in your drainage system.

You do not need to worry if you do not have a drain snake. You can use an old coat hanger by straightening the metal cable and then using it to poke inside the drain.

Getting Rid of Blocked Sewer Drains

If you use an auger to clean the drain, make sure to wear rubber gloves, which will protect your hands and keep you safe while you clear a blocked drain. Also, keep a garbage can with plastic ready if you pull out dirt from the drain blockage and plumbing system.

Tree roots are also one of the most common plumbing problems for sewer lines, and the best method involves pipe relining.

If there are blockages in the main sewer line, you may need to contact a local plumber to help. Likewise, if too much toilet paper or other objects cause sewage blockage, professional help will be required.

Call a local plumbing company like Precision Electrical and Plumbing and ask them to send a plumber at their earliest. They can use the latest tools to clear the build-up within a very short period.

We hope this guide helps you unblock your sewer drain!