Everything You Need To Know About Drain Cleaning Service | San Antonio, TX
One of the facts of adult life is clogged drains. No matter where you live or what you do for a living, you are bound to encounter a clogged drain at any point of your lifetime, and that’s when you will start wondering about finding a good drain cleaning service in San Antonio, TX.
Oftentimes, clogged drains are due to a variety of causes, including the buildup of biological waste in a home’s drain system. For example, bathroom sinks can become clogged and start backing up due to the accumulation of hair, soap scum, and other objects that may accidentally fall into the drain. In kitchen sink drains you are more likely to find bits of food, grease, and even chunks of plastic. That’s not even making any mention of toilets, because if you have small children, they can turn into a graveyard for toys. That’s when you should start thinking about contacting a drain cleaning service in San Antonio, TX.
Of course, you can always convince yourself that you don’t have a problem, especially if nothing seems to be actually wrong, but if you ignore the issue long enough, your drain will soon begin slowing down and will eventually start backing up, which will bring your home’s plumbing to a slow, grinding stop. By this point, you will have an emergency on your hands.
When faced with a clogged drain, the first reaction of any homeowner will be to grab a plunger to try to dislodge the clog. While this may get the backed-up water to go down the drain, it will never really solve the problem. Plunging a clogged drain is only a temporary solution that will only make the cycle start over. Finding a good drain cleaning service in San Antonio, TX, will not only get rid of the clog that is giving you grief right now, but it will also ensure that your drains are renewed, fresh, and working perfectly once more.
What Is Drain Cleaning All About?
Once you have contacted a drain cleaning service in San Antonio, TX, and scheduled a visit to your home, there will be a flurry of activity taking place on the day the plumber tasked with cleaning your drains.
The entire process will start with our tech asking you a number of questions in order to get a clear history of your home’s plumbing. Some of these questions will include asking whether you’ve had any problems with your drains or plumbing system in general, and if you answer yes, they will ask what happened on those specific occasions. The tech will also ask if you have had your home’s drains cleaned before, and, if so, when was the last time a drain cleaning service performed said task.
After you have answered all the questions, the tech will let you know what they will be doing during the visit. The tech will also go through each of the drain cleaning service steps with you in order for you to understand what will be going on during the tech’s visit. They will explain the process designed to diagnose the problem, the drain cleaning service itself, and the camera-assisted inspection. Feel free to ask any questions that may come up during this time.
Once everything has been explained to your satisfaction, the tech will begin the diagnostic process. They will test all the fixtures of your San Antonio, TX, home and carefully inspect any areas where your drains may be backing up. This process is performed by the tech, so they can decide which tools and equipment are the most adequate for the job. It also helps pinpoint any problem areas you may not have detected before.
Now that your tech has a clear picture of what is going on in the confines of your home’s plumbing system, they will start setting up for the actual drain cleaning service. This setup includes ensuring they have open and clear access to the area where they will be working. You can save some time by moving any objects that may be in the way, such as furniture and decorations. Then, the tech will protect your rugs and flooring by placing drop cloths all along the path they have established from your main doorway to the drain cleaning service area.
The next step is the best part of the whole process because it’s when the actual cleaning takes place. Special drain cleaning equipment will be used to clear any standing water in the drain line together with the clog. If for any reason, the clog can’t be removed, the tech will use a special camera to visualize the clog and determine how bad the problem is to apply other techniques to clear it out.
Once the drains have been cleared, the tech will run several of your home’s fixtures at the same time to test the flow of the water. Finally, an inspection will be carried out using a camera to verify whether the clog was caused by damaged pipes. If this is the case, the tech will make the appropriate recommendations to solve the issue. On average, drain cleaning service will take about two hours from start to finish, so make sure you set enough time aside on the day the tech visits your San Antonio, TX, home.
Preparing For Your Scheduled Drain Cleaning Service
Even though drain cleaning is a pretty straightforward process, it does require some preparation on your part in order to ensure it goes smoothly and no time is wasted. So, before the tech arrives, it is a good idea to make sure a path is cleared from your home’s doorway to the point in which the tech will access the clogged drains. You should make sure the cleared area is at least three feet wide so the tech’s equipment can fit without damaging any furniture or walls. You should also remove any decorative items, figurines, and small objects from the sides of the path to prevent them from breaking, in case the equipment bumps into them.
At the point of access, you should remove any items that could hinder the tech’s job. For example, if the problem is in your bathroom sink, remove any personal items, soap holders, hairbrushes, and everything else you may have in that area. It is also recommended you remove anything that may be stored under the backed-up sink.
If there is any sewage in the area where your tech will be working, you should find a remediation contractor to remove it from the area before the drain cleaning service tech visits you, otherwise they may not be able to perform their job due to the standing sewage.
Keep in mind that having your drains cleaned may not resolve your problem permanently. This is because in many cases damaged pipes will continue worsening until your home’s plumbing collapses. Because of this, if your drain cleaning tech recommends any repairs or replacement of your drain pipes, try to get it done as soon as possible to avoid more costly repairs later on.
The Effects of Clogged Drains
As we have already mentioned, a clogged drain can cause severe damage to your home’s drain and sewage lines. For many, a clogged drain is a simple inconvenience that can be removed with a plunger, but the truth is actually quite different, and not calling a drain cleaning service on time can often result in untold damage to your home’s entire structure, as well as your belongings, and even your health.
This is especially worrisome when sewage starts backing up into your drain pipes, which will result in the release of harmful bacteria and noxious smells that can damage your family’s health. If the clog is bad enough, and waste is impeded from leaving the pipe, the dirty water will back up out of your home’s fixtures. This problem is most obvious when it takes place in your toilets or kitchen drains. To make matters worse, a severe clog can cause your pipes to leak, resulting in dirty, smelly water, flooding your home. To prevent all of this, it is important you call a drain cleaning service for help at the first sign of trouble.
Can Drain Clogs Be Prevented?
Thankfully, the positive side of having to deal with clogs is that once they are removed by a reputable drain cleaning service in San Antonio, TX, is that further development of these nuisances can be prevented.
The first thing to keep in mind is that clogs form when people allow things to go down the drain that should never be there, to begin with. Waste such as bacon grease, bits of food, soap scum, hair, small toys, chunks of plastic, and more, should never be allowed to go down any drain, so avoiding this can be the best way to prevent clogged drains.
The best way to stop any unwanted item from going down your drains is to use drain catches, which are designed to trap hair and soap that could get stuck in your drain line. You can also use them in the kitchen to grab any leftover food and other things that could cause clogs. Always remember to dispose of bacon grease by pouring it into a container that you can later throw in the trash, or just let it solidify in the pan and then carefully scrape it into a trash can. As for your toilets, prevention is as simple as telling your family to stop flushing anything but toilet paper. Flushable wipes, cotton swabs and other objects are sure to cause clogs, so it’s in your best interest to place them in a small trash can in your bathroom. Lastly, if you have small children that love to flush Legos or other small toys, you might want to invest a little money in purchasing a special childproof lock for your toilet. This small investment can save you a lot of money in the long run.
When Should You Call a Professional?
Once the water going down the drain stops flowing normally or starts taking longer than usual to empty out, you will start thinking about a clog. While you may initially try plunging your drain to try to remove it, in most cases, you will only end up pushing it further down the pipeline. If you’ve tried plunging your drain a few times but the problem keeps returning, you should start considering the idea of finding a professional drain cleaning service to deal with the problem appropriately.
Even if your clogged drain problem doesn’t seem too serious at first, if it becomes repetitive, it might be a signal of something very wrong deep inside your plumbing system. A professional drain cleaning technician has the training and the proper tools to remove even the most stubborn clogs without causing any damage to your pipeline. If worse comes to worst, a professional drain cleaning service will be able to remove the clogged section of the pipe and replace it after removing the blockage.
One other reason to call a professional is when a certain drain keeps getting clogged no matter what you do. It may seem like the problem never went away in the first place and it is quite literally driving you nuts. It could be that even though the problem isn’t getting any worse, it simply isn’t fixed. If this is your case, it’s time to get professional help. No matter what happens with your clogged drain, and even when you don’t have any problems in this area, the best thing you can do is to have the number of a good drain cleaning company in case you ever need their help. Keeping your drains clean and free from obstructions is the best way to avoid unwanted damage and expensive repairs later on, especially if you keep insisting on removing the clog yourself.
Looking For the Best Drain Cleaning Service in San Antonio?
When you are dealing with a clogged or backed-up drain, or even when there’s a foul odor coming from your drains, and need the help of the best drain cleaning service, don’t hesitate to call bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of San Antonio, the foremost drain cleaning company in the area today!