How to Unclog stopped up Drains and Pipes
Unclogging Clogged Drains and Pipes can be really hard and frustrating. In the end, you would have to call a plumber to do the job. But you can do it yourself too, below is a guide to help you with that.
How to Unclog a Sink
Even the most minor of the clogs can be taken care of using a plunger. Just fill up the sink with water and after that just start plunging. You would have to work the plunger vigorously with a continuous motion for several times, after that you would have to pull it off really quick forcing the drain to open.
Put a rug inside one of the drains when you plunge the other one when you are fixing a clog on a double bowl kitchen sink. Put the wet kitchen rag into the overflow cavity when you are unclogging a sink.
In each of the cases, the rag is important because it helps to bring the pressure to the clog, forcing it to open.
Now if the plunging does not work out, you would have to go work under the sink with a cable auger. Start by removing the trap pf the sink using a pipe wrench. You can unscrew the threaded coupling on the traps just by your hands. Use a bucket to empty the water from the trap. After completing this step make sure you have unclogged the trap. Take the horizontal arm from the stub out, after that out the cable inside the stub out and keep going, stop when you feel resistance. After that tighten up the lock screw after pulling the cable out. To drive the cable far inside the pipe, push the handle while rotating it in a clockwise direction. Keep repeating the process until you feel like the blockage has been broken. When doing this step if your cable gets stuck into something, just rotate it anti-clockwise and pull the cable back. Once you have rid the cable of whatever was blocking it, push it back ahead. More info here
After this you when you have made sure that the clog has gone, you are going to have to turn on the hot water tap and see if the water flows fine. There is nothing to be worried about if the water is not flowing fine, sometimes debris settles down onto a blockage. To get rid of that just fill the sink half with hot water and use a plunger to clear any extra blockage. After you have done, let a little more water flow and you’d have unclogged Drains and Pipes.
How to Snake a Tub Drain
It is not very common for a bathtub to suddenly have a clog. The clog has to be built up over a long time, mainly several weeks and it keeps getting worse every day. As always, to fix this, you would have to start with a plunger. Use a bent wire to take out any soap scum or hair after opening the screen from the drain after unscrewing it. Raise the lever of the pop-up drain to the open position if the bathtub has any after this pull it out from the drain hole by grabbing the stopper. Remove all the hair and soap that is accumulated there. Most likely this will take care of the clog. But if it does not, you would have to take a rag and cover the holes of the overflow plate from below using a wet rag. Take a plunger and start plunging, if the clog doesn’t clear out after this step either you would have to use a cable auger.
Take the overflow plate out of the tub and put almost 30 inches of the cable auger inside the drain. Push the cable forward while twisting it. Almost instantly you will start feeling resistance, but don’t stop now, you would have to keep pushing the cable until it reaches and goes through the P-trap that is under the tub. Take the cable out afterward and open the hot water tap. It would be best of you ran several gallons of hot water down the drain. As the last step, throw away the old overflow plate and screen and replace with new ones.
How to remove a toilet clog
Toilet clogs occur commonly on the bend that is part of the fixture. Commonly a plunger would do the work. But in many cases, you would have to use a closet auger to get rid of the drain.
For this purpose, you would have to place the auger tip inside the bowl and keep in mind that the tip is aiming upwards. Keep a tight grip on the shaft as you rotate and push it down the toilet. You are going to feel the auger cable making its way up the bend. Keep pushing and cranking until you’ve penetrated with the entire cable. Take the cable out by vigorously cranking it and pulling it up. Wash the drain by flushing the toilet. If it still feels like as if there is still something down the drain then use the auger cable two times more, once in both directions. It will clear out all kinds of clogs.
How to Clear a Floor Drain
To clear a floor drain, you are going to need a little extra power. For that, you would require an electric power auger of at least 50 ft. Remove the strainer that is covering the drain hole. Take out the clean out plug using a pipe wrench. Feed down the pipe into the drain as much as you can. Stop at once if you feel resistance. Start the motor and set it to rotate in the clockwise rotation. Keep feeding the cable, if you feel the motor slowing down, pull the cable back and start it in the anticlockwise rotation. Keep doing that until you feel like the clog has gone. Drain several gallons of water to make sure the drain is clear, and you don’t have any Clogged Drains and Pipes.
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