Sutherland Shire Plumber Explains How To Unblock a Drain

Blocked drains are no fun.

Your kids might have thought it was fun to send their action figures on an exploratory mission down the toilet or your kitchen sink has gotten stopped up by leftover bits of food and grease.

Regardless, now your drain is blocked and your house is starting to stink because of it. What do you do?

Thankfully, we talked to an expert Sutherland Shire plumber who can tell you exactly what you need to do.

Grease and Food Blockages

There are a couple of DIY methods that work pretty well for grease and food blockages in a kitchen sink.

The easiest is to dump boiling water down the drain. The heat will soften the grease and food bits and loosen up the clump — hopefully enough to wash it away for good.

If that doesn’t work, you can try attacking it with a baking soda and vinegar mix. These two ingredients react together, creating a bubbly, fizzy action that can work to loosen the clog.

Try it a few times because it might not work on the first go.

Hair Blockages

Shower drains are notorious for getting clogged up by bunches of hair. As gross as this is, the good news is that these types of blockages are relatively easy to clear.

All you have to do is straighten out a coat hanger (or get some other long piece of strong metal wire). Create a hook on the end and insert it into the drain.

Once you find the blockage, grab it with your little hook and you can pull that gross bundle of hair up out of the drain.

Solid Objects

Unfortunately, blockages caused by toys or household items getting washed down the drain are not easy to get out. The most you can do is try plunging the drain with a toilet plunger.

The suction created from the pumping action is sometimes enough to dislodge the item.

However, the item will still have to make it through the rest of your system without getting stuck again — which isn’t always possible.

You can also try fishing it out with the coat hanger, but depending on the object, it can be a lot harder to get ahold of than hair.

Still Stuck With a Blocked Drain?

If you live in Sutherland Shire contact Curran Plumbing if you haven’t been able to clear your own drain. As expert plumbers, we have the tools necessary to successfully clear the pipes — no matter the cause.

Don’t feel bad, there are many causes of clogged drains that the average homeowner can’t remedy very easily. For example, if the issue is caused by tree roots growing into your pipes, you’re going to need a plumber to clear the clot and repair the broken pipe.

We also have hydro-jets, professional plumber’s snakes, CCTV cameras, and other tools at our disposal that make the task much easier.