An Essential Spring Clean – The Importance of Drain Cleaning Services

Drain cleaning is one of the most important steps in your home spring clean, and one that is often forgotten about or overlooked. People rarely stop to think about just how important their plumbing system is to their daily life, but you need it for cooking, cleaning, bathing, flushing, and keeping your garden fresh. That is a lot of water to use daily, so why aren’t more people concerned about keeping their drains clean and tidy?

What causes blocked drains?

To put it simply, anything that is not water has the potential to block your drains. Everyone knows the tell-tale signs – water draining slowly, a nasty smell and the dreaded glugging as the water tries to force its way round a small clog. If left unattended, it could mean that you have to call a drainage engineer in Liverpool to come and fix a plumbing emergency. The most common culprits of blocked drains include:

1. Hair – Although it may not seem like it could do a lot of damage, a build up of hair can cause serious issues. Too much hair can stop water passing through it altogether and can cause you a lot of problems as a homeowner.
2. Food and Grease – Think that rinsing your plates and scraping food down the plug hole won’t be a problem? Think again. Food blockages are some of the most common problems that our drain company in Liverpool come across, and it can be an easy fix. Fatty substances are known to be sticky, and these can stay hidden in your pipes collecting more food until eventually nothing can pass.
3. Toiletries – anything that can stick to the side of pipes and cause an obstruction are bad news for your sewage system. Baby wipes, sanitary products, cotton wool and even excessive toilet paper can cause major blockages. All these items swell when they come into contact with water, so simply trying to flush them away won’t work.
4. Foreign Objects – You would be surprised at some of the items that we have found as local drain unblockers! It might not seem like a problem if you accidentally flush a nappy or a small toy down the toilet, they all have the chance to snag on existing clogs or create their own in the pipes bends, so if anything goes down your toilet that shouldn’t you need to make sure you call the professionals.
5. Leaves – Something that is often overlooked are outdoor drains, but these can cause some of the worst drainage problems. You need to ensure that you keep your drains clear of any grass, leaves and garden debris, otherwise you could be looking at a large bill and your garden being dug up!

Major benefits of local drain unblockers

Whilst you might think that you are keeping on top of your drain maintenance by using regular drain cleaningchemicals, there are a lot of major benefits to using our drain company in Liverpool. It is important to schedule frequent cleaning to minimise future problems and damage to your home

• Improves drain lifespan – regular drain cleaning can help to keep your pipes healthier for longer. By making sure that you get rid of any small clogs that can lead to leaks or corrosion, you are helping to keep your plumbing system running freely
• Keeps costs down – whilst it might seem like an expensive cost as part of your spring clean, by having lots of smaller drain cleaning appointments you can reduce the risk of a major plumbing emergency. If you are looking at having to renovate your home due to a flood or digging up your garden due to a blocked sewage pipe, suddenly the cost of a routine drain clean seems tiny!
• Reduces bad odours – because most of the causes of clogs are from organic matter, they make the perfect breeding ground for mould and bacteria. Bacteria love confined, damp and dark spaces, and, over time, it can grow and spread without you even realising it – and releasing foul smells into your lovely home!
• More efficient drainage – drains can accumulate lots of small clogs and blockages over time, and your water can gradually slow down without you even noticing. By having your drains regularly cleaned by our drainage engineer in Liverpool, you can have fast and free flowing water all year round!
• Reduces risk of damage – because you can’t see into your plumbing system and pipes, clogs and blockages can form over long periods of time, and before you know it you end up with leaking or even burst pipes that can cost a lot of money to fix. By having professionals clean and inspect your drains regularly, they will be able to spot anything that could lead to larger emergencies.

How you can prevent blockages

There are a few steps that you can take once you have had your drains cleaned to keep on top of your pipe maintenance:

• Be careful what you put down your sink – as one of the main culprits of blocked drains is food and grease, make sure that you don’t accidentally wash anything down your kitchen sink. Make sure that you scrap any leftovers directly into the bin, and pour grease or fat into a plastic bottle and throw it away instead of down the drain
• Don’t flush anything other than toilet paper – however tempting it might be to flush one makeup wipe or baby wipe down the toilet, remember that these do not degrade in the same way that toilet paper does! These can easily catch on existing clogs or clump together to form their own clog, and you could end up with a bigger problem than a simple blocked toilet.

• Invest in a plug cover / strainer – an easy way to catch anything that might accidentally end up in your sink is to purchase a plug strainer. These are useful for both kitchens, where you can catch any small bits of food, and the bathroom, which can help prevent hair from going down the plug hole
• Look at drain stoppers regularly – If you have already got a drain stopper, make sure that you are not forgetting about it and you are cleaning it regularly! Check for build-up of soap, hair, and anything else that it has accumulated to stop it from going into your pipes.
• Run boiling water down your pipes – because most clogs are made from organic matter, running boiling water down your drains regularly can help to break down any build ups that you might have missed. Hot water washes away any oils rather than letting them build up which can lead to sluggish water drainage and clogs. You can also throw some baking powder down as well, as this is a helpful cleaning agent that can help to break clogs down as well as getting rid of any nasty odours.
• Avoid over the counter chemicals – whilst you might think that using a drain cleaner every month is helping to keep on top of your pipe maintenance, you might be doing the opposite. Any chemicals that are left in your pipes, or stuck to small and stubborn clogs, can corrode over time and eventually leave you with leaks or a burst pipe.