How To Properly Use A Plumbing Snake To Clear Drains

When any drain clogs in our home arise, we tend to gravitate toward the plunger and little else. In cases where the plunger and its vacuum-created pressure are not able to clear clogs, many immediately move to harmful chemicals or simply call their plumber to fix the issue.

we’re happy to help with all drain cleaning needs and concerns. This includes informing you on a few other home remedies you may have at your disposal for minor to moderate clogs, one of which is the use of a plumbing snake. Many people have never used one of these before – let’s go over the steps to take when your drain clogs and you have a plumbing snake available.

Attempt Plunger Use

The first step here, as we noted above, should indeed be to grab your plunger when you notice a drain clog and attempt to resolve it this way. If you’re unsure how to use a particular type of plunger, our plumbers can answer any questions you have. If this doesn’t do the trick, however, you move on to the snake.

Locate And Prepare Snake

A plumbing snake is a metal or plastic device that’s generally about a quarter of an inch thick. It’s design with significant extensions, meant to reach down into your clogged drain and push the clog out. Snakes also contain drain augers that will latch onto and push stubborn blockages.

If your plunger doesn’t clear a clog, locate your snake and bring it to the drain in question. We also recommend keeping a bucket nearby to collect the clog once you pull it out, plus we’d advise wearing goggles and possibly protective gloves.

Feed Snake

Once you’re ready to go, feed the snake slowly down the drain, using the crank device it comes with to keep it moving until it finds the clog. Once this happens, much of the clog will be latched onto the coil so you can pull it out, while the rest will simply break up and flow downward.

Detach Debris

Remove the snake slowly from the drain, and once you’ve done so, pick off any debris that’s stuck to the coil. This is another area where wearing gloves is a must.

Flush Drain

Finally, take a few minutes to ensure the snake has done its job correctly. If you’ve been using it on a toilet, flush the toilet a couple times and make sure everything flows well. If you’ve used it on a different drain, flush it with some room temperature water.

https://www.mybuddytheplumber.com/blog/how-to-properly-use-a-plumbing-snake-to-clear-drains/

How To Properly Use A Plumbing Snake To Clear Drains

When any drain clogs in our home arise, we tend to gravitate toward the plunger and little else. In cases where the plunger and its vacuum-created pressure are not able to clear clogs, many immediately move to harmful chemicals or simply call their plumber to fix the issue.

we’re happy to help with all drain cleaning needs and concerns. This includes informing you on a few other home remedies you may have at your disposal for minor to moderate clogs, one of which is the use of a plumbing snake. Many people have never used one of these before – let’s go over the steps to take when your drain clogs and you have a plumbing snake available.

Attempt Plunger Use

The first step here, as we noted above, should indeed be to grab your plunger when you notice a drain clog and attempt to resolve it this way. If you’re unsure how to use a particular type of plunger, our plumbers can answer any questions you have. If this doesn’t do the trick, however, you move on to the snake.

Locate And Prepare Snake

A plumbing snake is a metal or plastic device that’s generally about a quarter of an inch thick. It’s design with significant extensions, meant to reach down into your clogged drain and push the clog out. Snakes also contain drain augers that will latch onto and push stubborn blockages.

If your plunger doesn’t clear a clog, locate your snake and bring it to the drain in question. We also recommend keeping a bucket nearby to collect the clog once you pull it out, plus we’d advise wearing goggles and possibly protective gloves.

Feed Snake

Once you’re ready to go, feed the snake slowly down the drain, using the crank device it comes with to keep it moving until it finds the clog. Once this happens, much of the clog will be latched onto the coil so you can pull it out, while the rest will simply break up and flow downward.

Detach Debris

Remove the snake slowly from the drain, and once you’ve done so, pick off any debris that’s stuck to the coil. This is another area where wearing gloves is a must.

Flush Drain

Finally, take a few minutes to ensure the snake has done its job correctly. If you’ve been using it on a toilet, flush the toilet a couple times and make sure everything flows well. If you’ve used it on a different drain, flush it with some room temperature water.

https://www.mybuddytheplumber.com/blog/how-to-properly-use-a-plumbing-snake-to-clear-drains/

How To Properly Use A Plumbing Snake To Clear Drains

When any drain clogs in our home arise, we tend to gravitate toward the plunger and little else. In cases where the plunger and its vacuum-created pressure are not able to clear clogs, many immediately move to harmful chemicals or simply call their plumber to fix the issue.

we’re happy to help with all drain cleaning needs and concerns. This includes informing you on a few other home remedies you may have at your disposal for minor to moderate clogs, one of which is the use of a plumbing snake. Many people have never used one of these before – let’s go over the steps to take when your drain clogs and you have a plumbing snake available.

Attempt Plunger Use

The first step here, as we noted above, should indeed be to grab your plunger when you notice a drain clog and attempt to resolve it this way. If you’re unsure how to use a particular type of plunger, our plumbers can answer any questions you have. If this doesn’t do the trick, however, you move on to the snake.

Locate And Prepare Snake

A plumbing snake is a metal or plastic device that’s generally about a quarter of an inch thick. It’s design with significant extensions, meant to reach down into your clogged drain and push the clog out. Snakes also contain drain augers that will latch onto and push stubborn blockages.

If your plunger doesn’t clear a clog, locate your snake and bring it to the drain in question. We also recommend keeping a bucket nearby to collect the clog once you pull it out, plus we’d advise wearing goggles and possibly protective gloves.

Feed Snake

Once you’re ready to go, feed the snake slowly down the drain, using the crank device it comes with to keep it moving until it finds the clog. Once this happens, much of the clog will be latched onto the coil so you can pull it out, while the rest will simply break up and flow downward.

Detach Debris

Remove the snake slowly from the drain, and once you’ve done so, pick off any debris that’s stuck to the coil. This is another area where wearing gloves is a must.

Flush Drain

Finally, take a few minutes to ensure the snake has done its job correctly. If you’ve been using it on a toilet, flush the toilet a couple times and make sure everything flows well. If you’ve used it on a different drain, flush it with some room temperature water.

https://www.mybuddytheplumber.com/blog/how-to-properly-use-a-plumbing-snake-to-clear-drains/

6 Common Drain Cleaning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Chemical Meltdown

When you have a blocked drain, one of the first solutions you may think of is to get chemicals to clear it. There are a lot of drain cleaning chemicals on the market and many make huge promises.

However, they often don’t live up to their promises. Depending on the kind of blockage you have, they may only worsen the problem and deepen your frustration.

If you have solids blocking a drain, it’s unlikely that chemicals will be able to clean it effectively. If the chemical is harsh but still cannot dissolve the blockage, then you are stuck with the blockage plus the chemicals inside the drain. Drain cleaning chemicals are toxic and can end up doing more harm than good.

Incorrect Plunging

One of the first drain cleaning tools you will probably reach for when you have a blockage is a plunger. There are several different plungers out there and they’re all made for separate kinds of drains. To get the job done, you need to choose the right plunger for the job.

Sink plungers will have a bell-shaped bottom. Toilet plungers, on the other hand, will have a flat bottom. However, even if you do have the right plunger, you need to make sure that you’re using it correctly.

Place it over the drain and completely seal it off. Push the plunger slowly and precisely, up and down. If you plunge too fast, you may push some of the matter that’s blocking the drain too far down.

Take your time when plunging. It’s understandable that you want to unblock the drain quickly, but plunging too fast can make matters worse.

Poking Into the Drain

After you’ve tried chemicals and even a plunger without much result, you may decide to get creative. But doing this while trying to unblock a drain can go badly.

For example, many people will try to dislodge the blockage by unbending a hanger and sticking it down the drain, but poking at the blockage is never a good idea.

Also, don’t try to use a stick to poke down the drain. It may break, leaving you with bigger problems. More often than not, once a plunger has failed to unblock the drain, poking something down may shove the matter causing the blockage to go further down the drain.

Sticking things down the drain can also put dents and holes into your drain pipe, which could leave you with a costly plumbing bill.

Garden Hosing

When you have a blocked drain outside, you may be tempted to grab your hose and start applying some pressure to try to unblock the drain.

Hydro jetting a blocked drain should be done with equipment that is designed for this purpose.

A garden hose is not the ideal equipment for trying to unblock a drain. The pressure from it will probably not be heavy enough to unblock the drain. This is especially true if the drain is outside and has been blocked by tree roots or even small animals.

Attempting to DIY hydro-jetting can cause flooding which will only make matters worse. It may also cause damage to the pipes.

Incorrect Use of a Drain Snake

A mechanical snake is a great way to unclog a drain. However, it should not be abused.

Do not force the drain snake around pipe corners that are hard to navigate. Using a drain snake too frequently and incorrectly can damage pipes leading to expensive repairs.

Avoiding the Plumber

DIY projects are to be celebrated. We understand that some homeowners would prefer to do repairs themselves to save some money . But there are certain instances where it’s just more cost-effective to call in a professional to deal with the problem.

If you’ve tried everything to unclog your drain and nothing is working, then there’s no need to go any further. It’s time to call a plumber!

https://trusteyman.com/blog/6-common-drain-cleaning-mistakes/