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Kitchen/Bathroom sink clogs

Please note: While we have done our best to offer useful information, these tips are only suggestions. We recommend you ensure you’ve contacted a licensed plumber.

Preventing Kitchen Drain Clogs

No plumbing problem is more common or more frustrating for our customers, than a clogged drain.

•Kitchen sink drains most often clog because of a buildup of grease or soap scum that traps food particles.
•Soap and hair are often the culprits in bathroom drains.
•Drains can usually be cleared easily and inexpensively, but taking some simple precautions will help you avoid blockages. Proper disposal of kitchen waste will keep sink drain clogs to a minimum.
•Never pour grease down the kitchen sink.
•Never wash coffee grounds down the sink. Instead throw them out.
•Avoid using chemical cleaners, particularly if you have brass, steel, or cast-iron p-traps and/or drain pipes; some caustic chemicals can corrode metal pipes.
•Clean floor drain strainers. (Some tubs, showers, and basement floor drains have strainers that are screwed into the drain opening.) You can easily remove these strainers and reach down into the drain with a bent wire to clear out accumulated debris. And be sure to clean the strainer.
•Clean pop-up stoppers in the bathroom sink and the tub/shower regularly. Lift out sink pop-ups once a month and rinse them off.
•Keep the sewer pipes from the house free of tree roots that may invade them. If roots are a particular problem in your yard, you may need to call in professionals once a year or so to clear the pipes. We will use an electric power auger to cut out the roots.
•Flush the drain-waste and vent systems whenever you go up onto your house roof to clean out downspouts or gutters. Run water from a garden hose into all vents, giving them a minute or two of full flow. Remember to have your vents cleaned properly with a jetter every 5 years to completely clear all build-up and debris in order to avoid blockages and sewage back-up.

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noisy pipes

Pipes Making Noise?

Pipe noises range from loud hammering sounds to high-pitched squeaks. The usual causes range from loose pipes, water logged air chambers, or most commonly, water pressure that’s too high (Pressure Regulating Valve should be replaced in this situation.) Anchoring exposed pipes is a simple solution; other remedies such as anchoring pipes concealed inside walls, floors or ceilings, or may call for a professional.

Banging
Pipes are usually anchored with hammer clips or pipe straps every 5 to 7 feet for horizontal runs, 6 to 8 feet for vertical.

•If your pipes bang when you turn on the water, you may need to add straps, cushion the pipes by insulating them, or both.
•When you anchor a pipe-especially a plastic one-leave room for expansion.
•NEVER use galvanized straps on copper pipes.

Squeaking
Only hot water pipes squeak. As the pipe expands, it moves in its clip/strap, and friction causes the squeak.

•Solution: Cushion it as you would a banging pipe.

Water Hammer

This noise occurs when you turn off the water at a faucet or an appliance quickly. The water flowing through the pipes slams to a stop, causing a hammering noise.
Check for:

•Loose Pipes

Remedy:

•Anchor the pipes.

Check for:

•Faulty air chambers/Hammer Arresters. These lengths of pipe or cylinders (in the case of hammer arresters,) installed behind fixtures and appliances, hold air that cushions the shock when flowing water is shut off. They can get filled with water and lose their effectiveness.

Remedy:

•To restore air to the chambers, turn off the water at the main shutoff valve. Open all the faucets to drain the system. Close the faucets and turn the water on again. The air chambers should fill with air. (In the case of the hammer arrester if this does not work then they will need to be replaced.)

Check for:

•Water pressure that’s above 70 psi (pounds per square inch).

Remedy:

•To lower the pressure, install a Pressure Regulating Valve (PRV.) Give us a call if you do not feel comfortable in doing this yourself.
• In houses that were built in the late 80’s to the late 90’s and have grey plastic (poly-b) waterlines it is highly recommended to change your PRV every 8 years to avoid waterlines bursting.

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Winterizing your plumbing system

Plumbing tips page

Please note: While we have done our best to offer useful information, these tips are only suggestions. We recommend you ensure you’ve contacted a licensed plumber.

Winterizing Your Plumbing System

Homeowners who used to simply turn down the thermostat in a vacated house for the winter are now closing down the plumbing system because of prohibitively high energy costs. Winterizing your plumbing is a virtually cost-free alternative to frozen pipes.

•Turn off the main shutoff valve or have the water company turn off service to the house.
•Starting at the top floor, open all faucets, both indoors and outside.
•When the last of the water has dripped from the taps, open the plug at the main shutoff valve if possible (you may have to contact the water company), and let it drain.
•Turn off the power or gas to the water heater and open its drain valve.
•To freeze proof the system, empty toilet bowls and tanks.
•Remove the clean out plugs on all sink traps or remove the traps, if necessary.
•Once emptied, replace them and fill with plumbing antifreeze mixed with water in the proportions specified for car in your climate.
•You won’t be able to drain tub and shower taps. Instead, add at least a full quart of antifreeze.
•Don’t put antifreeze into a dishwasher or clothes washer.
•If your home has a basement floor drain or a main house trap, fill each with full-strength antifreeze
What to do about Clogged Drains
Before trying any drain-clearing methods on a plugged drain, check that the tub’s pop-up stopper is opening fully and is free of hair and debris. If the stopper isn’t the problem, then the drainpipe is probably clogged. First, try a plunger or chemical drain cleaner.
If these fail to do the job, you’ll have to clear the trap with a snake.

•Most tubs have a P trap in the drain. In some homes, the tub may have a drum rubber gasket.
•Using a snake in a tub P trap is much like snaking out a sink trap. If you have a drum trap, first try snaking it clear through the tub overflow.
•If that doesn’t work, bailout all the standing water from the tub.
•Then, using an adjustable-end wrench, unscrew the trap cover slowly.
•Have rags ready for any water that wells up.
•Remove the cover, bail out and clean the trap.
•If, after this, water does not well up, snake toward the tub; if water does well up, snake toward he main drain.

If you can’t reach the clog from the trap, it’s probably deeper in the main drain. At which point it would be best to have one of our friendly technicians come and take a look.

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