When you are taking a relaxing shower and start to feel the creep of water up the sides of your feet, or need to change the water in your kitchen sink while doing dishes and need to wait for the water to slowly drain, you know you have a drain issue. But how can you stay ahead of it before it becomes a bigger issue? How often should you clean your drains to prevent clogs, smells and costly repairs?💸🛠️
The answer is not a simple formula for all homes. In Calgary, homes that are in older established neighbourhoods such as Oakridge or Palliser have a higher likelihood of problems due to tree roots than a newer community such as Walden. Furthermore, the number of people in the home, what is being regularly cooked (think the amount of grease) and how many people have long hair in the house can all factor into the rate to which your drains may clog faster or slower than your neighbour, so the question of how often should I clean my drains starts to become more of a personal question based on your home’s location, occupants and habits. We recommend keeping a drain cleaning schedule, similar to a Spring or Fall Maintenance checklist, as staying on top of your drainage is well worth it.
Why Regular Drain Cleaning Is Worth It
Regular drain cleaning allows you to prevent the build-up of grease, hair, soap scum and other debris that often catches in pipes. Besides these more obvious drain cleaning benefits, you will prevent foul odours from occurring in the first place and reduce the risk of major clogs and plumbing damage.
Drain Cleaning Frequency
🗓️1-2 Months. Especially in bathrooms, which are often exposed to lots of hair and soap scum, we recommend cleaning the drains of your sinks, tubs and showers every 1-2 months. Your drain cleaning schedule will be heavily influenced by the number of people in your home and the length of their hair – long beautiful hair is very prone to clogging drains and if you don’t have a drain cover on your sink or shower this risk increases. The baking soda and vinegar method to clean drains is a great way to get things moving naturally, as well as the Zip-It tool for hair removal – we keep it in all our vans as it is so versatile – simply insert the Zip-It plastic piece into the drain opening push and push it further into the drain, allowing the flexible, barbed design to reach deep into your pipes. Then be prepared to pull out and see all the hair and grime that it pulls back out with it. We recommend having a paper towel in hand to help remove the debris as you may be surprised how much comes out.
And don’t forget about your kitchen! Most people have a dishwasher these days in their home, but the dishwasher filter is often overlooked. The dishwasher filter should be cleaned monthly to prevent clogs and odours from occurring.
🍁Seasonally – Every 6 Months. When customers ask us how often to clean their kitchen drain it often comes down to the homeowners individual habits. Someone who is a single person, eats out a lot and is rarely home will need less frequent cleaning than a family who is home every night, cooking from scratch and baking daily. However, as a general rule of thumb laundry rooms sinks, washing machine filters, floor drains and kitchen sinks should be cleaned every 6 months. Adding these areas to your Spring and Fall maintenance checklists is a great way to not only clean the drains but also serves as a reminder to inspect the traps for leaks.
🔧Annual Professional Drain Cleaning. In neighnbourhoods with mature trees, or prior clogged drain issues we recommend being proactive and working with your local Calgary plumber on a drain cleaning schedule for your home. This is often an annual program where we can clean your drains, use our drain cameras and see how the situation has evolved. This allows us to recommend if the cleaning should be more frequent or if we can increase the time between visits.
Tailoring Drain Cleaning To Your Home
As listed above, the size of your household can affect things such as the amount of hair, food, debris and frequency of cleaning that you will need. The landscape in your neighbourhood and your yard will also affect this decision. Homes with trees, especially those that are well-established or with popular trees, will require more frequent cleaning.
🚨Signs It’s Time To Clean Your Drains Right Now
While you may have your home down to a rigid schedule on a beautiful spreadsheet or app, there are certain signs you cannot ignore that signal drain cleaning is needed now. Signs of a clogged drain include water draining slowly, gurgling noises while draining or water backing up. Signs that your drain is starting to become clogged include foul odours coming from drains, sinks or tubs, and fruit flies in your kitchen around the sink drains.
When can Homeowners Clean Drains Vs Call A Drain Cleaning Professional
Homeowners Can Clean Drains! There are lots of times when homeowners can clean drains to prevent issues before they happen. The baking soda and vinegar hack is one of our favourites. Or it can be as simple as using a pair of needle nose pliers to pull hair from your bathroom drain.
When To Call The Pros? Besides the obvious of water backing up in your basement, there are other signs on when it may be time to call in the pros. If you have tried to clean your drains and are noticing recurring clogs, multiple drains backing up, or smells that just don’t go away, it is most likely time to call your favourite plumber Calgary. Tree root intrusion is another item that is best dealt with by professionals as they have specialized bits on their drain cleaning equipment that allow them to effectively and efficiently clean your drain pipes.
All Plumbers Are Not Created Equal
If you find yourself in need of a plumber for professional drain cleaning, the team at Harper’s Plumbing is here 24/7 to assist. We are based in SW Calgary and can quickly get to any homes in the SW, DeWinton or surrounding communities – but we serve all of Calgary! However, if you are not in our service area, make sure to ask your plumber before they come to your home what kind of drain cleaning machines they have and how much experience they have in residential drain cleaning in Calgary – at a minimum, you want to make sure they have battery operated equipment to clean your drains and don’t just show up with a hand-powered drain snake and a pair of pliers.
At Harper’s Plumbing we always treat our customers like family, exactly how we would want to hear our mother-in-law was treated if we did not live nearby and needed a plumber. So whether you need regular maintenance or emergency service the team at Harper’s Plumbing is here to help with all your drain cleaning needs!
