Blocked drains can cause utter chaos for any home owner. They can result in nasty smells and flooding that can potentially have devastating consequences.
Yet this is ironic seeing as it is rather easy to keep them clean and free-flowing. You simply just need to know how the drains become blocked in the first place, to know what you need to avoid.
We’ve highlighted the top 5 causes of the most common blocked drain problems, so you can be on the lookout and your drains can remain fully functional at all times.
Trees & leaves
When leaves fall from the trees, they can very easily end up in your drainage systems causing them to back up. Likewise, tree roots are naturally drawn to the closest supply of water, but can cause cracking in pipes which will then create blockages.
So it’s best to keep trees (if you can help it) far away from the perimeter of your house and rake up any loose leaves that fall in your garden, before they can cause any problems.
Grease & fat
When you’re cooking with grease or fat, the simplest thing would appear to be pouring it down the kitchen sink, and then it’s out of the way. Right? Wrong.
The once runny consistency of the fat will turn gloopy and sticky, causing other objects to become caught up in it which ultimately results in a blocked drain. So make sure when you’re next cooking something fatty or greasy, you don’t just pour it down the sink and think ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as there will be repercussions.
Hair
Over time, it is inevitable that hair will build up in a plug hole and stop any water from running away down it anymore. If the hair is left where it is, this will gradually worsen over time and can cause a large-scale blockage that could put your shower, bath or sink out of use.
There are devices that can be placed over the plug hole to catch any loose hair, stopping it from falling into the drain. These are worth giving a go, but you should still keep an eye on how much loose hair there is and avoid it ending up in your drains.
Foreign objects
We can all fall victim to accidentally dropping things down our drains, mostly small objects like jewellery. But some people openly treat their drains like a rubbish bin, thinking they can dump any old thing down them such as nappies, toys and even false teeth! This should never be done as it goes without saying the amount of damage it can cause.
Keep a close watch on your children, as many of these objects can end up there when little hands get hold of things!
Toiletries
Wipes, such as baby wipes or face wipes are not designed to be flushed down the toilet as they do not disperse when in water, unlike toilet paper. Therefore, they can catch on rough parts of the inside of your drain and get stuck, creating a blockage.
Likewise, nappies should never be flushed down toilets. They expand as they absorb more and more water, so when completely immersed in water they increase to a ridiculous size and can cause a major blockage in your pipe.
Now you’ve read the top 5 common causes for blocked drains, you know the things to avoid and keep an eye on so that you, hopefully, will not find yourself in a mess with backed up drains!
However, if you do find yourself in the unfortunate situation of trying to manage with blocked drains, Wildon UK are the drainage contractors to call. With our various services including professional drain jetting, we can make sure your drains get back to their original working order.
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