There is no doubt that a clogged drain is a major inconvenience. At the same time it also seems like a problem any reasonably intelligent person should be able to tackle using a little common sense and some DIY determination. As such, when confronted with a clogged drain many homeowners will take matters into their own hands and armed with specious knowledge gained from third parties they’ll do their best to try and remove the offending clog themselves. In the process however, they often just make matters worse. Below are 3 things you should definitely not do if you find you have a clogged drain.
3 Wrong Ways to Respond to a Blocked Drain in Toronto
A clogged drain seems like something that should respond to a bit of effort and some common sense. Unfortunately, plumbing is not as simple as all that. Here are 3 things homeowners typically do that wind up making a blocked drain in Toronto worse.
- The Coat Hanger Response – Some plumbing companies use long snake-like devices to bore through clogs and provide relief. These devices have been engineered and refined by plumbing professionals in the field over the course of decades and yet they must still be employed carefully and only in certain circumstances. Some DIYers conclude that a coat hanger is basically the equivalent of a professional ‘snake’ and set about rooting away in their pipes with this closet-based solution. On far too many occasions what winds up happening is that the DIYer ends up losing their grip on the coat hanger and it gets stuck in the pipe.
- The High Pressure Response – If you’ve ever looked at a pressure washer and thought “I’ll bet I could use that to unclog my drain”, you wouldn’t be the first. On the surface this may seem like a reasonable response to a clogged drain but in reality attempting to force pressurized water into a blocked system is like turning up the heat under a pot with a fixed lid. At some point it’s going to blow. Attempting to force highly pressurized water through a blocked drain is a recipe for disaster and will likely leave you with nothing but an enormous bill to straighten out all the collateral damage.
- The Chemical Response – Depending on the nature of your clog there’s a chance that a commercial drain cleaner will eat through it and bring you some relief. However, there’s also an even chance that the caustic chemicals used in these products won’t clear the blockage or do anything other than gnaw at your pipes, making them weaker and setting the stage for a large scale failure down the line.
Dealing with a blocked drain in Toronto is a big enough hassle without making things worse by trying to fix it yourself. If your drain is clogged don’t take matters into your own hands, call the pros and New Canadian Drain. We’ll have things back to normal in short order and leave your plumbing in tip-top condition.