Drains that get constantly clogged are never fun to deal with. You have to have a plunger on hand at all times, and even then you may need to call in an expert to snake the drain or do something to fix the issue. This is often an expensive and time-consuming problem – and if you’re a small business or have a large household, waiting for a qualified drain cleaning specialist to come out can be a quick recipe for disaster.
Reasons Your Drains are Constantly Clogged
The real question you might be asking yourself is: why are my drains constantly clogged? Is it something I am doing or is it a defect in the plumbing or sewer system?
We are here to help. Here are five reasons your drains might be getting clogged more than usual:
1. Large objects or food particles are being flushed down the drain. Not every drain can handle large objects or chunks of food being flushed through the sewer system. Often, something that makes it down the drain can get stuck in a pipe. It seems that no one wants to understand and explore this principle more than young children. So, if you have a family of youngsters, and your drains were working fine before your taking over the home, it’s possible that someone is flushing toys, wads of toilet paper, chunks of food, or other items through your system, causing clogs.
The best solution for this extremely common issue is education. Showing kids how drains work and why something might be small enough to enter your sewer system, but be too large to exit efficiently can work wonders. In fact, this can be made into a fun puzzle. You can create an outdoor experiment by asking your kids to set up their own drain system using a garden hose, a funnel, some plastic piping, and a bucket. They can try to flush different objects down your homemade “drain” to see how those objects get stuck.
2. Your drains are at an incorrect slope. Let’s say that no one is flushing anything inappropriate down the drain. Another common issue is that your pipes are set at too shallow or deep a slope to efficiently carry water and debris out of your home and into the general sewer system.
This issue requires a bigger fix than some simple education. When a sloping issue exists, the pipes will need to be set at a proper slope, allowing the water to flow through at the right speed for whisking away any material that is put down the drain. While this is a more expensive fix, it’s also a very necessary one if you do not want to have to call us to snake your drains constantly.
3. Drain pipes are offset. Over time the seals to your pipes may become broken, allowing your system to become slightly offset or even to fracture. This can allow additional, unseen debris into your system – and cause waste to get stuck within your sewer system.
The solution for this issue would be to, of course, fix the broken or offset pipes. This is another more thorough fix but is very necessary for the overall health of your sewer system and for the land affected by any leaks or other issues caused by offset or broken pipes.
4. Roots or other organic material have entered your pipes. One of the more common sewer system issues here in Portland and surrounding cities is root penetration. We have so many trees and beautiful plants here in the Pacific Northwest that have extremely deep, well-established root systems. These systems can wrap around and even enter your pipes, leading to breaks and blockages in your pipes.
Once again, the solution to this issue is rather simple: fix the broken pipes. It can be more difficult if a tree has been planted directly above the sewer line, but we can often find ways to replace the broken piping without significantly impacting surrounding nature.
5. The pipes are very old. Sometimes your pipes are intact, they are just extremely old and have severe sediment built up inside of them. This is very common in some of our more historical Portland homes.
Often, sediment buildup can be removed, but if the pipe is very old it may also have issues with rust spots or displacement. If your home is an older one, it is important to get a full examination of the existing system before choosing the best solution to fixing your drainage problems.
Here at Clog Busters LLC, we not only do drain cleaning 24/7, we provide you with the long-term solution needed to fix any drainage or clogging issues you are experiencing. If you’ve had to suffer through numerous clogs and blockages in your sewer system, contact us today. We are standing by to help you discover and resolve all of your drain cleaning and sewer challenges.