Why You Need Professional Drain Cleaning & What to Expect

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You rely on the drain system in your home to dispose of waste water in a clean, effective manner. Sometimes an accumulation of contaminants in your drains can cause them to stop working efficiently and compromise your water quality.

If you’re experiencing any problems with the drains in your home, contact Bell Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical right away. Our professional Denver plumbers have the tools and experience necessary to thoroughly unclog your drains!

Read on to learn more about why keeping your drains clean is so important, including why you need the help of Denver drain and sewer experts!

Signs You Need Professional Drain Cleaning

While most of your drain system is hidden from sight, there are many fairly obvious warning signs that professional drain cleaning in Denver may be necessary. Some of these may seem to be simply inconvenient, such as sinks or bathtubs that take a while to drain. Even the most minor clogs in your drains can lead to serious problems if you give them the chance, though. To protect the condition of your drains, it is necessary to have them professionally cleaned at the first sign of problems.

However, drain cleaning may not always be your best option. If the roots of nearby trees have worked their way into your drain line, compromising its integrity, it may be necessary to repair the drain rather than simply cleaning it out. With our video pipe inspection equipment, our plumbers can thoroughly evaluate your situation and the condition of your drains to determine if repair is the right course of action.

Dive a little deeper by reading one of our other posts, “Signs You Need Professional Drain Cleaning” here!

Why Drains Get Clogged

There are a lot of reasons why your drains may become clogged or blocked. Grease and food particles may build up in your kitchen sink drain. Hair and soap scum can accumulate in the drain of your bathtub. Whatever the cause of the blockage, it is possible for damage to be done as a result. Blocked drains can throw off the balance of pressure in your system, leading to cracked or burst pipes. Having your drains inspected to locate any clogs and scheduling professional drain cleaning is the best way to prevent such problems.

Targeted vs. Ongoing Drain Cleaning and Maintenance

Our customers should consider what specific issues are involved with their drain issues. Not every type of drain cleaning service is alike, and you should be clear about what you need. Consider whether or not you need targeted drain cleaning vs. ongoing drain maintenance. What are the differences between the two and what are the issues that they address?

Targeted Drain Cleaning

Targeted drain cleaning refers to cleaning that deals with a specific clog—something that doesn’t usually recur, but which prevents your faucet or shower head from functioning. In these cases, the plumber can apply specific remedies matching the nature of the clog.

Grease buildup or fibrous vegetable matter from your kitchen might require a different tool than hair clogging your bathroom. In most cases, a mechanized snake with a fitted head tailored to the clog in question can do the job, though plumbers have a wide variety of tools at their disposal (such as high pressure jetting and video camera technology).

Ongoing Drain Cleaning Maintenance

Ongoing drain cleaning maintenance is more of a preventative step than an attempt to correct an existing problem. It entails an annual “flushing out” of your drain system, regardless of whether it’s functioning efficiently or not. It doesn’t deal with anything specific, but it can be a fantastic way to stop build-up before it starts: lowering the need for a targeted drain cleaning service in the future.

Our plumbing is vital to a functioning and happy home, and sometimes it’s necessary to clean your drains. A schedule of preventative maintenance can reduce the risk of more serious clogs, especially if your household suffers from clogged drains frequently. For more on targeted drain cleaning vs. ongoing drain cleaning maintenance, contact the experts at Bell Plumbing and Heating to help. We handle all types of drain cleaning. Our trained professionals can provide expert plumbing services in Lakewood to treat your particular clog properly. Pick up the phone and give us a call today.

What to Expect During Professional Drain Cleaning

man performing sewer and drain cleaning in denver

You should make drain cleaning for your plumbing a regular part of home maintenance. Although you will need to call for a professional plumber whenever you encounter serious clogging or issues for slow drains, scheduling drain cleaning as an annual routine will help reduce repair problems, avoid problems from high water pressure, and generally give your plumbing a much longer life.

People often associate “drain cleaning” with chemicals poured down a sink. That’s not what professionals do to clean drains, however; these caustic chemicals can cause damage to plumbing, and experts will do everything possible to keep your drainpipes in the best condition. After all, what’s the point of cleaning drains if it leaves them worse off than before?

How Often to Schedule Professional Drain Cleaning

Typically, it’s a good idea to schedule drain cleaning services every year, even if your drains haven’t showed any symptoms of developing clogs. This is the best way to make sure that waste isn’t allowed to build up enough to cause clogs in your pipes. Of course, you should still call for drain cleaning services as soon as you notice a problem with your drains, even if it’s between maintenance cleanings.

Techniques Used by Drain Cleaning Professionals

Drain Snake

For simple unclogging work, you can expect a professional plumber to clean your drains using a motorized drain auger (sometimes called a drain snake), which can take care of almost any size of obstruction within a drainpipe. Often, drain cleaning will start with a drain auger to remove basic drain trouble.

Video Pipe Inspection

For a more thorough cleaning, plumbers will often use video pipe inspections to determine how best to approach the drain cleaning process. These fiber-optic cable-mounted cameras travel down through drainpipes and send images back to a monitor, giving the plumber a complete view of the interior of the pipes. The plumber can target specific areas for cleaning and determine the level of cleaning necessary.

Hydro-Jetting

The main tool for drain cleaning is usually a hydro-jetter, a powerful plumbing device that uses motors to place water under extremely high pressure, then blasts it out through a nozzle at the end of a hose inserted down into the drainpipes. The force of the water (usually more than 7,000 psi) scours the inside of the pipes and removes almost all kinds of accumulation. This so thoroughly cleans the pipes that it is difficult for build-up to start again. A good hydro-jetting job will leave drains that stay clean for a long time afterwards.

After hydro-jetting, the plumber may choose to use video pipe inspections again to see if the work did the job necessary. The plumber will supply you with a flash drive containing the video from the inspections so you can see what was done.

Call Bell for Expert Drain Cleaning in Denver & Beyond

Clogs and leaks usually don’t develop overnight. They normally take a long time to slowly grow and develop. During a regular Denver drain cleaning service, your plumber will look for those issues and try to remove them or fix them before they cause actual damage to your home’s plumbing system. Getting regular cleaning for your drains is a great way to potentially avoid plumbing repairs and also increase the effectiveness and longevity of your drains.

Call the specialists at Bell Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical today if you’re interested in setting up regular maintenance visits for your home’s plumbing system!

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