How to Unclog Any Drain in Your Home or Business

Clogged drains suck. They’re messy, and if it’s your toilets, gross! Your worst fear is having to call a plumber. If you want to learn how to unclog any drain in your home or business, read this article. There are a few steps a homeowner can take to resolve drain issues before calling the pros at Sand ‘n Sea Drain Co.

Break Out the Plunger

When you think of plunging, you think of toilets. You’re asking, “but what if it’s my sink?” Believe it or not, most often the plunger will get it. Use hot water to help, but make sure not to use boiling water in these steps. Plastic pipes are not designed to hold boiling water and can cause serious damage to your pipes.

Follow these simple steps on how to plunge a sink, shower, tub, or floor drain:

1. Cover the overflow hole (for sinks and tubs). That little hole in the sink connects to the drain and needs to be blocked for the plunger to work. Use either a rag or your hand to block the hole.
2. Place the cup of the plunger (the side you’d stick in the toilet) directly over the center of the drain. Make sure the mouth of the plunger cup is wet to create a good seal.
3. Use quick, sharp, up and down motions to force air through the pipe. If the problem is still in the sink line, the forced air should blow it right out. This could take a while, depending on severity and condition of the pipes.
4. Check your progress. If the standing water has gone down, you’ve successfully cleared the blockage. Run hot water and make sure it continues to drain.

Try a Homemade Drain Cleaner Solution

Traditional drain cleaners that you would find in the store are made with harmful, caustic chemicals. Those gel drain unclog products can actually destroy your drain pipes. If you use these chemicals, and they don’t solve your clogged pipes, a plumber will almost certainly charge you much more to solve the problem.

However, there are products around your home you can use to unclog your sink, shower, bath, and floor drain pipes. These products are safe to use! For drains that don’t clear with hot water and a plunger, grab baking soda, white vinegar, and a rag or drain stopper.

1. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down drain.
2. Pour 1/2 cup of white vinegar down drain.
3. Grab rag or drain stopper and plug the drain IMMEDIATELY! The mixture will cause a foaming effect and won’t worked unless pressure is formed in the pipe.
4. Leave plugged for about an hour.
5. After an hour has passed, check the drain. Open the plug and run HOT water down. It is best to have a pot of hot, not boiling water ready.
6. If the hot water goes down, then the drain cleaner solution was a success! If the drain is still plugged, you may want to consider calling the pros at Sand ‘n Sea Drain Co.

We Believe in DIY and Have the Tools for When You Can’t

Sand ‘n Sea Drain Company was built on the idea of DIY. Everyone should have a basic understanding on how to solve the basic issues around their home and offer these solutions anytime we can! Sometimes, the problems just can’t be resolved through normal at-home methods, and the big tools need to come out.

If these methods don’t work for your Coachella Valley drain issue, call The Drain Guys at (760) 333-1857. We guarantee we can unclog your drain, or you don’t pay!