Why Is My Drain Slow?
Find Out From Our Ventura County Plumbers!
A slow drain is a fairly common occurrence in the average home or business. You’ll most commonly find a slow drain in either your kitchen or your bathroom—where two of the most heavily-used drains in your home reside. What causes these slow drains and what can you do about it? Our plumbers have a few different explanations as well as the solutions to your issues. We proudly serve all of Los Angeles, Simi Valley, Ventura County, and the San Fernando Valley.
What Would Cause a Slow Drain?
Some people believe that a clog will always stop your drain completely, and this is far from the case. In some instances a clog may be so large that it almost entirely obscures your drain line, while leaving an extremely small space for wastewater to get through. Naturally, this means it’s not uncommon for a slow drain to eventually stop up completely as well.
Why Is My Drain Clogged?
Drain clogs can come from a variety of different sources, most commonly an accumulation of substances that have gone down your drain.
- In your kitchen - the culprit is usually food waste, such as fats, solids like eggshells and coffee grounds, or starches like potatoes.
- In your bathroom - clogs usually consist of hair, soap scum, and other grime that goes down the drain. This usually happens in your shower or bathtub, but could also happen in your sink as well.
But there could be even more serious causes of a clog.
Do I Have a Serious Clog?
If the clog is affecting multiple fixtures, such as your shower, sink, and toilet in your bathroom, then the clog could be further down your drain line and have a more serious cause. Tree root intrusion is a possibility, especially when these lines are run near where trees are planted. All it takes is a microscopic fracture in your plumbing and a tree root can sneak in and then grow, causing the line to block up completely.
How Do You Fix a Slow Drain?
The ideal solution to a slow drain is to have you drain professionally cleaned by a Ventura County plumber. The experts at Dutton Plumbing are equipped with the latest tools and equipment to effectively remove your clog and get your drains working smoothly again. We strongly recommend a camera inspection of your drain line with every clog removal in order to get a complete picture of what’s going on in your pipes so we can make sure to resolve the issue completely.
One thing you absolutely should not do under any circumstance is use a strong acid drain cleaner from your local hardware store to try and remove the clog. These substances are both ineffective at removing the clog completely and could cause serious damage to your plumbing.
How to Unclog a Drain
- Drain Snaking - If your drain clog is located fairly close to your drain, a snake service is usually the ideal way to get rid of it. Snaking your drain involves feeding a simple tool down the drain that grabs hold of the clog and then yanks it out, leaving the line clear.
- Hydrojetting - If the clog is located further down your line, we can get rid of the clog through a process known as hydrojetting. This involves feeding a specialized tool through an access area in your drain line which then blasts your clog with a stream of super high-pressure water. This not only obliterates and removes the clog, but can even clean the walls of your plumbing to prevent it from returning again anytime soon!
- Pipe Repair/Replacement - If hydrojetting or drain snaking are not an option, we may be able to repair the pipe itself to get rid of the clogging issue. Pipe replacement involves cutting out the clogged section of pipe and replacing it with a new one. It’s also possible to repair a pipe through pipe rehabilitation, a process which seals leaks and restores structural stability to damaged lines. Ask your plumbing technician about these options if hydrojetting or drain snaking are not viable options.
Schedule your drain cleaning service by calling Dutton Plumbing at (805) 849-0965 today!
