If you live in your home long enough, sooner or later, you will have problems with clogged drains, especially with older homes. A common cause of these types of clogs can be too much paper products or maybe a child’s toy being flushed. Some of these types of problems can be cleared with a simple household plunger, but what causes clogs that can’t be cleared and what should you do about them?
There can been many causes for this type of more persistent problem, ranging from heavy grease or debris to tree roots penetrating the sewer lines (usually at the seams) to even more serious problems like damaged or collapsed lines. When faced with problems like this, you should use a professional plumber you can trust.
How Plumbers Clear Tough Drain Clogs
Typically, a plumber may try to clear the clog with a device called a plumbing auger or a plumbing snake. This is usually a long metal cable, with a cork screw auger or blade attached to the end. They can be motor driven or hand cranked. The plumber might feed this down the line from inside the house or, more commonly from the outside the house, assuming there is a “clean out” that allows access. There are far fewer problems that can’t be cleared using this type of method.
However, there will still be problems that can withstand this type of method or where the auger was a short term solution. Assuming the line isn’t damaged, this might be heavy build ups of debris or grease or tree roots penetrating the line through seams. I will return to the tree roots later. If you haven’t already, now is the time you must a skilled plumber that knows how to use a hydro jetter. Many plumbing companies do not have this kind of specialized equipment, so you may have to look around. Please remember that a hydro jetter is not a DIY project and requires a skilled and experienced professional.
What is a Hydro Jetter?
A hydro jetter can be thought of as a very long hose, capable of pushing water into a clogged drain, under very high pressure, with special nozzles at the end of the line. They generally carry their own water source. The type of nozzle used would depend on the problem. There are not many clogs that can stand up to this as the proper hydro jetter can cut through wood.
Usually, a plumber might want to run a sewer camera down the line, to try to determine the nature of the problem. This will help him pick the right nozzle and ensure the line is intact. A hydro jetter is powerful enough that it may further damage a line that has structural problems. Assuming the sewer camera shows that a hydro jetter would be appropriate, the fun begins.
Typically, a hydro jetter would access the sewer line outside from a clean out, a pipe the rises up perpendicular and vertical to the sewer line, until it is above ground. The pipe has a cap on it to allow easy access to the sewer line, when needed. When done this way, there are not many clogging problems that can stand up to that. If you don’t have a clean out, now might be a good time to install one. A hydro jetter can be run inside the house, typically by pulling the toilet stool, but that can get seriously messy, if there is high pressure back wash.
If the problem was debris or grease build up, the problem might never return, unless we are talking about a restaurant and you are reasonable about what you put in the line. When an auger is used to open the line, it merely punches through the clog. The hydro jetter, however, completely clears the clog, as the high pressure water scours the wall of the pipe clean.
However, what an auger or a jetter can’t do is prevent tree roots from returning. Tree roots are on a never ending hunt for water and a sewer line can be a good place to find some, especially in the winter, when there are far fewer water sources. To stop this problem completely, you might need to remove the tree and/or replace the sewer line. If an auger is used to clear roots, the problem will quickly return. Because the hydro jetter more completely removes the roots, you can expect it to be much longer before the line clogs again. If you don’t want to remove the tree or replacing the line isn’t on your budget, you may want to consider having a hydro jetting of the line scheduled regularly.
Call Today for Effective Hydro Jetting in Addison, IL
The skilled plumbers at Drip Drop Plumbing, Inc. are the experienced professionals required for this type of job. Drip Drop Plumbing offers affordable, upfront rates, with same day service and on time appointments are guaranteed.
You’ll be glad you did.