It can be helpful to know how to use a drain snake to dislodge clogs and keep your pipes clear.
When you have your own place as a homeowner, suddenly taking care of all of the different things that pop up or go wrong becomes your responsibility. This includes issues with the plumbing. While the activities of regular plumbing maintenance are usually pretty simple, you also have to take care of any plumbing problems that arise. One of the most common for most homeowners is clogs in the drain. For many homeowners, the first idea is to head to the store for that red bottle, but most plumbers actually recommend that you avoid liquid drain cleaners as much as possible. They can cause pretty extensive damage, especially to older pipes and especially if you use them a lot. Instead, it is a good idea to have access to and know how to use a drain snake.
What Is It?
A drain snake is also called an auger and it is a tool that can be used to get to and pull out or push through clogs. It is usually metal, with a long snake arm that gets wound down into the pipe from the sink or tub drain.
How Do You Use Them?
You start by pushing the end of the snake into the drain opening. This will either be in the sink or the tub, and it is easiest to do if there isn’t a lot of standing water obscuring your view. Next, turn the handle on the drum that holds the coiled up snake. This starts pushing it down the pipe. For some drain snake, you may have an attachment that connects it to a power drill – this will make the process faster and easier and give you a little more ooomph when you have to push it through the clog. Keep pushing the drain snake down the drain until you start to feel resistance. The first time you feel resistance is when you hit the U-bend. After you push through that, you will be able to push along easily until you hit resistance again. This is the clog. Rotate the snake so that the tip starts to spin through the clog. This will either break up the clog or embed the snake in it so that you can pull it back out. Pull the drain snake out and hopefully the clog with it. Finally, run water full force through the drain for a few minutes to make sure anything that was left behind is washed through.
How To Prevent Clogs
The best ways to prevent clogs is to stop things like hair from going down them. Invest in some drain strainers for each of your drains and make sure that you service your disposals if you have them.
Call Mahon Plumbing Today
If you still have more questions regarding your plumbing, we here at Mahon Plumbing are here to help. We have been serving the wider Baltimore area since 1994, so we have 25 years of experience to back up our fantastic service! Call us at our Baltimore location at 410-766-8566 or our Pasadena location at 410-636-7944. Be sure to keep up with us on social media by following us on Facebook or Twitter.