Ever wondered why your drain gets blocked? Understanding the complexities of your plumbing system may help you to prevent this from happening, but often, blocked drains are just one of those common occurrences in life that can’t be avoided.
Fortunately, blocked drains can be quickly sorted out through drain cleaning Brisbane companies, and this is often the best long-term solution for such a problem. Still, if you’re contemplating how you can prevent blocked drains from occurring too often, here are some of the main reasons your drain at home is blocking up.
6 Reasons Your Drain Has Blocked Up and How to Avoid Them
Throwing Away Chunky Food and Oil
When you throw away food down a drain, it may not immediately cause any blockage. But as time goes by, this food can get lodged in turn pipes and slowly cause blockage when other objects pile up against it. This is especially true for oily foods or oil itself, because as we all know, oil and water do not mix.
A Build-Up of Hair
If you’re throwing hair down your toilet on a fairly regular basis, it might eventually cause a blocked drain, resulting in the need to contact a professional plumber. Hair doesn’t always get eliminated because it’s thin, sticky, and contains elements of oiliness to it. Whether you’re doing your own grooming at home and flushing hair down the drain, or if you’re in the habit of emptying your hairbrush into the toilet, this is not a good idea.
A Network of Roots in Your Drain
Trees are also culprits when it comes to blocked drains. Roots have a way of getting into the lower parts of your drainage system and growing a web-like network that traps objects like toilet paper—or worse! Over time this collection builds up and results in a fully blocked drain.
An Old Plumbing System
Sometimes a blocked drain is caused by nothing more than a very old system that simply needs replacing. It may be a result of dilapidated pipes, or a system that is just old and in need of a full overhaul. If your house is an old one, ask a plumber to inspect the plumbing system to see if it’s time for a repair or a complete replacement.
A Cracked or Burst Pipe
Pipes that have cracked due to weather conditions can also be the cause of a blocked drain, because they divert water to places it shouldn’t be going. A burst pipe can occur when foreign objects are flushed down a toilet. These pipes are made from plastic, and they do break occasionally. Talk to an expert plumber about inspecting your pipes and identifying if any of them are damaged in some way.
Years of Soap Residue
Soapy water is continually flowing down your drain, and over time this water does leave behind a film of residue. Over many years, this residue collects until it becomes an unpleasant slime substance. This could be happening at any point in your plumbing pipes underground, and only a plumber will be able to dig them out to inspect them.
Measures You Can Take to Prevent Drain Blockage
Of course, soap scum is not something you can prevent. This is just part of monthly home maintenance; checking to see if pipes are blocked because of soapy build-ups. But the other five issues can be prevented through good plumbing practices.
One such issue is food disposal. Wherever possible, avoid throwing away large amounts of food down your drain. Oil and food build-up are a major cause of blocked drains, so, rather throw your food away in packets and into your bin.
How you dispose of hair is also something you can change. Instead of flushing hair (even a little bit of hair) down the toilet, get into the habit of throwing it away in a bin. The same should be said of any medium-to-large foreign objects. These belong in the bin, not your toilet. Objects can and will cause blockage, and even if they don’t, they pose a risk of damaging your pipes.
Finally, you can avoid blocked drains by having a plumber maintain your drain once every 12 to 24 months. Plumbers will immediately see if a problem is starting to form in your drains, and they have special equipment and chemicals that can save you money in the long run.
Final Thoughts
It’s nice to know that plumbers are always available to solve your blocked drain problems. However, if you wish to call them less often, there’s a lot you can do to keep your home’s drains free of strange things. If you’ve recently moved into a house that’s showing signs of a blocked drain, such as leaking, rising water in the toilet, or slow draining water in your basin, call a professional to check it out.