Almost all of the time folk don’t give a lot of thought to their plumbing.  It just is sat in the background, performing a silent, but required job.  That is, till something goes wrong.  Then, you find yourself scrambling to get it fixed before everything gets too out of hand.  There are several common causes for blocked drains and a few things that you can try yourself before calling in an expert. 

because of the need to preserve water, toilets have been re-designed to flush with less pressure and water use.  This is excellent for the environment, but not always the best for the performance.  Sometimes, it’s just not enough to get the task finished.  Also, blocked drains can be caused by an increase of grease or particles.  Hair is another common culprit.  In addition, if you have a septic system, things like tree or bush roots can essentially grow thru the pipes causing a backup in the drains. 

when you understand the probable causes, you can troubleshoot the situation.  Of course, the 1st defensive position for blocked drains is always a good plunger.  If that doesn’t work, you may be taking a look at another issue.  Grease can often be cleared by pouring boiling water down the drain.  It’s also a brilliant idea to keep a multi-purpose drain cleaner available.  These products work well for things like hair and fragments of food. 

When you have tried all the home remedies for your clogged drains with no success, you’ll likely want to call in a certified plumber.  They can do a couple of things that are unavailable to the average home-owner.  One of the tools that plumbers use is a high pressure water jet.  This shoots a stream of water into your pipes that may force a blockage loose.  If the blockage is solid or quite grim, they may resort to an electric eel or pipe snake.  This will actually be placed inside a blocked drain and has the ability to cut or drill out the offending item. 

luckily , most blocked drains has straightforward causes and you should be able to take care of them with some simple techniques.  However, in the event that you are unable to fix it yourself, look for a professional plumbing contractor.  Ask mates and coworkers for suggestions and check references.  Having blocked drains is no fun and a good plumber can make sure that your plumbing is back running in no time. 

{Melbourne Plumbers}, Guardian {plumbing services}, are the mavens when it comes to Leaking Tap Repairs.

Article by Ray McCaskey

Our shower drain is clogged, and it’s getting worse. At first Drano worked, but it doesn’t anymore. I know if I call a plumber all he’ll do is snake the drain, and charge me $200 just for coming out. So, I went to Home Depot and bought a $15 drain snake. Now, here’s the dumb question: how do I remove the metal grate covering the drain? It looks like it’s in there pretty solid, and the snake won’t fit through the grate. Do I have to chip away at the plaster surrounding it? Then, how do I replace it? Will I need to re-plaster, or is there some sort of special adhesive to use?
Also, if there are any other solutions aside from Drano or the snake, I’m open to that as well. Thanks!

it is branching up out of of the pipe that carries away the waste water. the dishwaher is next to the sink and also drains there I beleive.
it sticks up and ends just under the sink and has a white “cap” with holes in it.
would this setup release odors under my cabinet? I am having problem with odors under the sink
Thanks!
here is a photo:http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179…

than 20 ft from the hot water heater. both showers have identical Delta faucets (large shower heads, 1 handle control that turns a 1/2 circle). the small shower with 1 shower head is great–plenty hot. the shower with 2 shower heads doesn’t generate enough hot water. we had to turn the hot water heater to full blast and that scared us so we turned it down and just use the small shower. now the handle in the small shower turns the full 1/2 circle-hot being to the right. the handles to the 2 shower heads in the large bathroom only turn for a quarter turn. does anyone have any ideas? does my question makes any sense?? do you think they possible installed the handles incorrectly since they only make a 1/4 circle turn?

I just bought a house that has been sitting empty for a few months. I had the water turned on today and when I turned on the “master” valves in my utility room, I noticed a hissing sound coming from the laundry closet. I think that means there is water running somewhere because the usage meter is slowly spinning around when no sinks or anything in use. The sound is kind-of loud. I checked back a few hours later and looked everywhere for leaks, including the outside fixtures, but I didn’t see any. No moisture to be found. I don’t know what else to do! I ended up shutting the water back off, just to make sure I don’t flood the place.

At times the water flow will stop (hot and cold) after a minute or two it will come back on. This has happened several times mostly when my wife uses the tub to wash the kids. I am leaning towards this being a pump but I am by no means a plumber!
We are on a well, I have no idea how old the pump is, we have a water softener that I bypassed when trying to figure this out so I am pretty confident it has nothing to due wth the softener. Are there any easy or relatively easy tests out there to figure this out or narrow this down?
Any help is appreciated!

To make a long story short, We purchased our first home on Jan 22,2009 the first day we moved in the toilets and the tubs backed up, the plumber was here 7 times in 4 weeks. Alot of the time we hear bubble sounds or gurggling in our toilet then all the sudden everything will drain. His son was here Friday snaked the drain and said a 1/ bend sewer pipe was broken, today his father came out to give me an estimate and said that the pipe was broken at the 90 degree bend, neither ran a camera, when I asked how he knew what it was he said because his son could hear it banging around when he ran the snake. He is going to charge me 1600 to dig it up and he said it may be more if they discover something else. He said he is going to dig 30 feet from the house. Is this a reasonable price and also does this sound like what it could be?

The paperwork the guys have to fill out such as invoices and timecards are lacking in the general information needed to reference the service call and charge the customer appropriately. We have spoken to the guys on several occasions but a few of them just won’t make the effort. We are spending too much time in the office trying to call them and get the info and it’s a time waster for us. The guys do a great job in the field but I need to find a way to reach them in a positive way. Any suggestions on how to motivate them to do this?

Ok, so my husband will read the answers so be serious here now. lol. Our toilet was over flooding and soaking our floors with water, even when we don’t flush the toilet. We found out if we wash dishes, wash our hands, take a bath it overfills that way. Why? more importantly what does my husband have to do? We’re EXTREMELY tight on money and his dad and him love to do projects like this. So what do we do? Actually I should ask what do THEY do? lol Thanks!

I bought a small counter top Haier dishwasher but since I have a pullout faucet, the fitting to connect the dishwasher water line does not fit.
What I’d like to do is take the soap dispenser out of my sink, and somehow split the hotwater line under the sink and run this for the dishwasher (through the hole where the soap dispenser was).
How it’s currently run is : pipe from basement>shutoff valve>3/8 compression fitting (on one end of the hose)>1/2inch pipe thread (other end of hose)>sink line.
So I guess what I need is something that can fit the end of the hose with the 1/2in pipe thread then splits and has two 1/2in pipe thread connectors on top.
Thanks!