Common Causes Of Blocked Drains – Know all About

One of the most stressful problems you can have is finding out that you have a blocked drain in your Warrington home. Slow drainage, raised water levels and bad smells are a few of the signs to look out for if you suspect that your drain is blocked. A blocked drain can cause people to worry, especially when there’s money involved.

If you have a major blockage, it could damage the pipes, and you may need to call for drain repairs in Warrington. While it’s a good idea to search for ways to try to unblock your drain yourself, it’s also handy to know what can cause the blockages in the first place. Fixing a drain can be a complex issue. You have to identify where the backup is, what is causing the obstruction and how to remove it.

Want to know how to avoid blockages? We’re going to share with you the most common causes of blocked drains in the home. Knowing these common causes of clogs will help you to keep your drains clear in the future, saving you stress and money.

Common Causes Of Blocked Drains In Warrington

The Wrong Objects

The only things that should be going down your drains are water, human waste and toilet paper that’s degradable. The toilet tends to be a victim of many items that people shouldn’t flush down, including baby wipes, condoms, cotton buds and sometimes children’s toys. These items don’t break up like toilet paper and will get stuck in the pipes. The more of them that get flushed down, the more build-up they will cause and ultimately cause a blockage.

Food

Any leftover food scraps that you have should always be scraped off into the bin and never put down the sink. Some food waste can be chunky, sticky, hard or stringy, and the pipes can’t carry materials like this away efficiently, even with running water. Instead, the bits of food will most likely cling onto the edges of the pipes. The more that gets put down the drain, the more the problem escalates and will cause a blockage.

Hair

Hair is a very common blockage for bath and shower drains. The strands of hair can easily grip around the plughole and stick to any soap scum that might already be in your piping. Over time, this causes water to drain much slower or can clog the drain altogether.

There are some things you can do to help prevent hair from blocking your drain. Brushing your hair before having a shower or bath will help remove the loose strands from your head, meaning less hair will run down the plughole. For the hair that does go down, you can use chemical drain cleaners every so often to help dissolve the hair. You can also get a sink strainer that goes over your plughole to catch hair and other materials so it doesn’t go down the drain.

Fat, Oil And Grease

This is one of the most likely reasons a kitchen drain gets blocked. Because they are liquid substances, many people believe that pouring them down the sink is ok. However, fat, oil and grease are very bad for your drains. They cling onto the pipes very easily and to anything else that may already be causing build-up in your drains.

Fat and grease solidify when left to cool down, so you can imagine what that does to your drain. It’s always best to put them in the bin when they become solid to avoid your Warrington drain becoming blocked.

Hygiene Products

Feminine hygiene and baby products are big problems for drainage systems. Products such as nappies, tampons and sanitary towels aren’t degradable. Also, they contain cotton and other fibres that can clog drains and easily stick to other materials. You should always dispose of these items in hygienic bins provided in public spaces or your own bin at home. Remember, you should only flush human waste, water and toilet paper down the toilet.

Soap Scum

Another culprit for blocked drains in Warrington is soap scum. Soap can act like glue and stick to other grime in the pipes. Over time, this can increase in size and cause a blockage. This is especially true for bars of soap as they are typically made with fatty or greasy ingredients. When the soap mixes with the minerals in the water, it clogs the pipes with the hard sediment that’s left behind.

Tree Roots

Tree roots are a common problem for sewer and water mains. Because tree roots look for moisture, they are naturally drawn to the water in the pipes. It’s essential to regularly check for any tree root invasion, especially if you live in a particularly wooded area. To save money and the possibility of a bigger problem, you could get a CCTV inspection done every few years just to give you peace of mind.

Outdoor Debris

Sometimes, outdoor debris can make its way into the drainage system. Items such as rocks, sticks, dirt and leaves can create difficult underground blockages that can go unnoticed. It’s best to regularly rake up the leaves and other debris to prevent them from being washed down drains on rainy days. Even the most minor cracks in the pipes can invite plants and soil into your system and end up as a blockage.

Other Things You Can Do

Now you know the most common causes of blocked drains, we also have some handy tips that can help you to prevent your drains from blocking:

• Regularly check your plugholes and remove any hair, food, soap or other bits you can see.
• Use drain cleaners to help keep your drains clear of grime.
• Pour boiling water down your sinks to break up any substances sticking to your pipes.
• Use drain cleaning tools frequently, such as a drain snake to pull out hair and other nasties from the drain.
• It’s helpful to know where your water main is and how to shut it off so you can save on some damage to your pipes if something bursts under pressure.
• You might want to get some lid locks for the toilet seats if you have children, so they aren’t tempted to put their toys down the toilets.
• As mentioned before, routine camera inspections for your drains can help identify problems before they become severe.

We hope that you have found this helpful and will follow the tips we’ve mentioned in helping to prevent your drain from blocking. Having a blocked drain in Warrington is a stress you don’t need, and we want you to have all the information readily available to stop drainage problems from happening in your home.

At Mersey Rod, we are dedicated to providing many drain services to people in the North West. As well as drain unblocking, we also offer CCTV inspections, drain jetting and cleaning, surveying and drain repairs in Warrington. All you have to do is give us a call or email and we will be with you as soon as possible. We are available 24/7, so you don’t have to worry if you find problems in the middle of the night. We will be there!