Tips for Handling Blocked Drains in Your Home

Blocked drains are a nuisance to homeowners because of the smell they produce if the blockade has been around for some time. Additionally, the unsightly debris that overflows from the blocked gully is a health hazard. In most such instances, it is recommended that you seek the services of a professional plumber. However, there might come a time when a plumber may not be an option for one reason or another. During such times, you would be forced to take care of the blocked drain by yourself. This article highlights ways you can best handle a blocked drain in your compound with minimum stress.

Locating the Blockage -- The number one reason why people call plumbers is to clear a blocked drainage system. Notably, most homeowners do not usually know the location of the blockage. For example, when dealing with blocked kitchen drains, the first step is to let water flow and note how long it takes to overflow. The longer it takes the further the blockage is from the sink. If you are dealing with a blocked utility hole, then you should first check the utility hole that is near the main drain. If this is dry, then the clog is in the conduit of the next higher chamber and so forth. Correctly locating blockages saves time and effort.

Clearing – A must-have tool when doing debris removal is a plunger. If you are working in the kitchen and the blockage is on the outside section of the drainage, then you need to use the plunger on the external part of the drainage. Find the primary connection from the outside, unscrew it and connect the plunger. Make a suction movement to pull out any debris. If the blockage is near the mouth of the sink, then you should use the plunger directly on the sink drainage. If you are working on a manhole, ensure that you turn plunger rods clockwise because anti-clockwise movements will unscrew the plunger and leave it inside the drain. Knowing where to use the plunger saves energy and there is every guarantee that you will completely clear the clog.

Wet Jet -- Once the plunger stops bringing up/out any more debris, then you can be sure that the clog is gone. However, the only way you can be entirely confident is by running a jet of water inside the drain of the manhole. You want to make sure that the jet of water flows smoothly on the other side. In the case of a sink, merely fill the sink up then remove the stopper so that the water goes down the drain in one big gush. It should clear any remaining debris inside the duct.