Blocked drains – there’s never a great time for blocked drains, especially over the last few years during lockdown and Covid-19. Imagine being stuck in your house with smelly, backed-up drains; or forced out due to an emergency drain blockage.
We’ve come up with our top ‘drain cleaning’ tips to help keep your drains problem free.
Blocked drains – keeping them clean
Prevention is key and far better than the cure, all it takes is regular drain cleaning to keep annoying blockages at bay. You can use off-the-shelf drain cleaning products; or make your own sewer cleaning solutions by mixing baking soda and vinegar (which is way better for the environment, and less damaging long term to your drains). There is also a variety of eco-friendly drain cleaning products, or just get a good plumber to do a professional drain cleaning service every once in a while. A quick blast of boiling water is also better than nothing. Plus, it’s all a lot cheaper and easier than dealing with home repairs after emergency blocked drains have flooded your home.
At Drain Power, our CCTV drain surveys can also help spot any future drain issues, from root ingress to cracked or collapsed drains needing patch repairs. Our CCTV drain surveys will flag any areas needing more intensive sewer cleaning.
Stop blockages in their tracks
What we flush down our loos really makes a difference, and many blockages can be avoidable. So, always think before you flush – if it’s not pee, poo, or paper (the 3 Ps), it shouldn’t go down the loo.
Kitchen roll is also a common culprit. It can cause blockages that require a CCTV drain survey or a professional drain cleaning service, as it’s not designed to dissolve like toilet paper or be flushed down the toilet. So, if you’ve hoarded a couple of spare rolls since lockdown, or you are in an area like Leicester that has gone back into lockdown due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, make sure you don’t flush it.
Remember, never flush or wash down the plug hole:
- food leftovers (scrape plates before rinsing them
- wet wipes (even if they say they’re flushable)
- cooking waste (cool, store and put cooking fat in the bin; don’t rinse it. Old jam jars are great for this.)
- stray hairs (get plughole hair traps and keep them clean)
- general dirt (clean plugholes and appliance filters regularly)
How to identify drainage issues
The obvious signs are bed smells, slow-running water (from basins, sinks and appliances like dishwashers), backing up toilets and drains, and localised flooding when it rains, which all means sewer cleaning action is urgent.
We’ve all skipped the cleaning and hoovering a few times, especially since lockdown started (thanks to the absence of uninvited visitors), but it’s always a good idea to keep on top of your drain cleaning before any issues arise, especially now as we are all cooking at home a lot more.
A quick dose of drain cleaning products (or vinegar and baking soda) can keep your drains smell-free and your home safe from drain-dwelling bacteria.
If you think it may be too late for simple drain cleaning, or you have an emergency blocked drain, your Drain Power team based in Windsor can help with CCTV drain surveys to identify if you have issues like cracked drains that need drain lining or patching, or root problems that require root cutting.
With our remote CCTV drain surveys, our drainage experts can identify the location and severity of drain problems without any need for digging, and can find the most cost-effective solution, whether that’s sewer cleaning, drain repairs, or drain lining.
Get more drain cleaning advice
Our drainage experts work across the Berkshire, from Windsor and Slough to Maidenhead and Greater London, and can help with CCTV drain surveys, sewer cleaning advice, and drain repairs for issues that need drain lining or drain patch repairs.
Get in touch and speak with our team to book a CCTV drain survey today or to get help with a blocked drain.