A backed-up drain
Prevent and Clear Blocked Drains
Clogged drains and blocked drains are more than just an inconvenience, they can quickly cause expensive damage to your home. If you have running water in your home, here are a few essential things you need to know about your drains!
Signs of Blocked Drains
When your sewer is plugged or your septic tank needs pumping, here’s what could happen:
- Water backs up out of your tub drain when you flush your toilet.
- When you empty your bathtub, the water stops flowing and bubbles back at you or bubbles into the toilet.
- When you empty your kitchen sink, the sink water backs up into the toilet.
- When you flush your toilet, sewer water backs up through an outside downspout, patio drain, driveway drain, or the lowest floor drain in your house.
- When you run a load of laundry, soapy water comes up into a toilet, shower, or floor drain.
How to Unclog a Drain and Prevent Clogs
- Let plenty of water run down the drain by keeping the faucet open for up to half a minute each day.
- Sink lines commonly plug because not enough water is flushed through them, especially after the garbage disposal is used. Run the faucet for about five seconds after you turn off the disposal. This helps flush the line.
- Never pour hot oil or grease down the sink—whether or not you have a disposal.
- About once a month, fill the sink to the top with very hot water. Using a fork or other kitchen utensil so you don’t scald your hand, remove the sink’s plug. As the clean hot water swirls down through the sink line, it takes much of the grease buildup with it.
- Drain-cleaning chemicals, if used improperly, can solidify in a drain line and aggravate the blockage. If the chemical doesn’t eat through the blockage, therefore not flushing down the drain, the chemical sits in your sink line. It crystallizes, and then there is no way you can easily clean a sink line after chemicals harden in it. Always be sure to follow the instructions
- It’s a good idea to keep a simple plumbing snake in your home. The snake can help you unclog your sink, bathtub, or shower drain if hair and other gunk happens to block them. A simple plumbing snake can be bought at your local hardware store or online for only a few dollars.
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To Keep a Toilet from Clogging
- Don’t put anything foreign down the toilet except toilet paper.
- Items such as dental floss, Q-Tips, baby wipes, feminine hygiene products, or any other paper product cling to the roots in the sewer and cause an immediate blockage.
- Always have a plunger on hand, and don’t wait until you need one to buy one—by then, it’s too late!
More Helpful Household Hints:
Catherine Boeckmann
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The house I'm living in is over 100 years old. It's big and there's lots of divided plumbing lines to certain things they belong to. For instance, we have one bathroom that has it's own lines. Then there's a part of the house we call the laundry room but it also has a shower in it that works, but doesn't drain. In fact the sink drains into that shower and causes such a mess we can't even keep up with. We've talked to the land lord but he's totally clueless and doesn't even try to fix it, so that leaves us to do it our selves. We were cleaning it almost every day with a shop vac, a heavy duty push broom, and bleach. That whole room gets flooded and it's really a waste of time because the dishes are done every night. We eventually just gave up and said that the landlord had to fix it because we didn't cause this problem, we're just living here. But he never fixed it and it's been months, we have been seeing cockroaches, the water backup has turned into a thick film and we just can't stand to know theres a room in a hour that is this bad. My mom is cleaning it right now for the first time in a while, and it's just completely out of control. We tried to use the shop vac one again and it's broken now because it couldnt handle what was in the room I'm assuming. I really don't know what is causing this to happen. I'm not sure, but I do think someone came and snaked the drain for us once, and they said that it wasn't clogged or anything. We've used so many chemicals to "unclog" the drain, but nothings worked. I've tried to tell my mom it's never going to stay clean, and I think she knows this but what else is there to do really. She has an idea of building some kind of wall on the out side of the shower so that it all stays inside. Which might be a good idea, but I'm not sure. There's actually an add on room by the shower that was once used as a canning room and it was completely ruined by the water. We are going to have to pull up the carpet and take everything out of it. Anyways, I'm not sure what else to mention, but I really hope someone reads this and knows of any ideas of what to do to keep this from happening.
Re plumbing issues
I rented a house for awhile that had issues similar to what others here are having. If your renting and your landlord wont fix it this can be reported the local health department.My old landlord had someone clean the drain from the street.This did not work.Why? Because it was the main sewer line that goes from the house to the street.This can run around 10,000 to repair.I suggest you video tape ,and take pictures of the issues for your records. Write or type up a nice letter requesting he fix the problems. Give him at least 5 days. Then contact the local health department. If you have already asked him to fix it ,and hes failed call the health department. They may condemn the home thou. I had to move out of my rental because the landlord would not make the repairs.
I'm having a problem with our old farm house plumbing. Every time we flush either toilet they fill CLEAR up before actually flushing. Once the decide to flush we here gurgling in all the drains *kitchen sink, bathtub, ect* We've tried chemicals but that hasn't done the trick. Any ideas?
Recently the toilet was blocked plumber came out and cleared the blockage, but said a part in the cistern was broke taking ages and I mean ages for water to fill having me have to top up with a jug! Anyway yesterday plumber fixes broken part toilet works fine then tonight put my washing machine on and all of a sudden hear my toilet running after washing machine finshes notice toilet still running I go and check and when flush cistern takes seconds to fill which is good but keeps filling I have now a very loud and annoying hiss and water running sound been like this for now a good couple hours please help can't sleep!!
Need a better seal on flap or a new flap. Some water is draining and the fluid master will keep kicking on to compensate. Replacement flapper are sold at any diy store. Very easy to replace
when i run either one of my sinks it overfills toilet ive had a plumber over twice first time he said it was a airbubble and worked fine for a few days next time he said it was my sump pump same thing worked for a few days.is it a problem with the leechfeild?
Reverse problem, not in a septic system. Our bathtub drains fine, but as it drains, it causes the toilet bowl (not tank) to drain out too. Is this more likely a clog, or something bad with how the lines are set up?
Bought an old 45 year house. Had new washer machine and when it drains I can hear it at my kitchen sink. But the problem is that the water starts over flowing out the washer drain pipe so I went and extended the 2 foot pipe to nearly four feet. Worked great for 3 weeks then started to overflow again. So then I figures to cover both sinks completely with plunger while completely duct tapping the washer drainage line to force down the water at high speed, but then black water force it's way up both sinks and smell like hard iron and sewaGe but not sewage at all, make sense? What kind of backup do I have. I'm on city sewage no septic. Help me please !!!!!
My problem is that when I run my dishwasher or kitchen sink it starts to backup into my laundry room out of my washers drain pipe. When it overflows the water is a nasty brown/black color. Is this a clog or something worse? I have tried the chemicals and snaking it but nothing.
im having the exact same issue. Have you received any information on what it means?
