A clogged drain is more than a minor inconvenience. It can render essential functions in your home or business completely useless. Before searching for the professional drain cleaning Bucks County has to offer, you might wonder if you can unclog a drain yourself. This post from Solution Based Plumbing, Heating, and A/C looks at two steps you can try to resolve clogs in kitchen and bathroom sinks before calling in professional help.
Common Clog Busting Tools
The following tools can be a life saver:
- Plunger
- Cable Auger/Plumber’s Snake. This tool consists of a long, flexible steel cable wound around a spool, often with a protruding metal spiral at the end. Cable augers are fitted with hand cranks you can turn clockwise to extend the snake, and counterclockwise to retrieve it. A 25-foot cable should do the trick for most household clogs
Unclogging Kitchen & Bathroom Sinks
Step 1: Use a Plunger
Most minor sink clogs can be dislodged with a plunger. If you have a double-bowl kitchen sink, you’ll want to stuff a wet rag into one opening and plunge the other. For a bathroom sink, you’ll want to close off the overflow hole with a wet rag as well. This ensures that pressure goes directly to the clog. To plunge, partially fill the sink with water and work the plunger up and down over the drain several times before pulling it off quickly.
Step 2: Use a Cable Auger
If plunging doesn’t do the trick, you’ll want to go ahead and place a bucket beneath the sink and remove the trap (the U-shaped pipe below the sink) with a pipe wrench. PVC traps often have threaded coupling that can be unscrewed by hand. Empty water from the trap into your bucket and make sure the trap itself isn’t clogged. Next, remove the trap arm that protrudes from the stub-out in the wall. This is where you’ll feed the auger cable in until you feel resistance. If the cable gets caught or bogged down, retrieve it until it is clear, then push forward again. After retrieving the cable and replacing the trap arm and trap, run hot water to see if it drains. You might need to repeat Step 1 to clear debris, then follow up with more hot water.
Drain Cleaning: Bucks County and Beyond
If you are unable to clear a clog after several attempts, or if you aren’t confident fiddling with the pipes under your sink, it is wise to call in professional help before accidentally causing permanent damage to a pipe or fixture. SBPHA/C offers expert workmanship and customer service. If you live in Montgomery, Bucks, Philadelphia, Delaware or Chester County, contact us at 215-584-2098 for all your plumbing, heating and air conditioning needs!