What do you need to know about drain and sewer clogs? In Lake Dallas

Drain or Sewer in Lake Dallas

When water from the sink or the tub lingers long after the shower or the dishes are done, you probably have a clog. But where? Is the clog in the drains or in the sewer line?

Drains are in your house; they carry waste water from the bath, toilet, sinks, water heater, and laundry areas of your home. The drains carry this waste water from the house to the main drain of the house.

Sewer lines flow from the main drain to the septic or municipal sewer system. Most sewer lines are underground.

How do you know where the clog is?

If the water in slow moving, or stalled, in one specific sink, then the problem is with the drains. If the water is slow moving throughout the whole house, kitchen and bathroom sinks, for example, then the problem is in the sewer lines.

Drain Clogs in Lake Dallas

Drains can clog for a variety of reasons, from grease build up to the stuffed animal your toddler tried to flush.

The most common causes of drain clogs in the kitchen are grease, food scrap, and soap build up. In the bathroom, the causes of clogs can be hair and soap.

Sometimes these materials form an actual blockage, sometimes they coat the walls of the pipes until there is little to no opening for water to flow. Regardless of the reason for the clog, removing the clog will be a top priority.

Unclogging a Drain in Lake Dallas

Most homeowners try to unclog the drains on their own. There are several drain cleaning products on the market, ranging from the simple old-school baking soda and vinegar mix to the unpronounceable chemical mixtures. Successfully unclogging a drain with any of these products is hit and miss. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

You can also find devices, available in hardware stores, to help an individual unclog a drain. These, too, range from simple to complex, also with hit or miss success. One danger: it is possible, with these devices, to do damage to your pipes and drains.

If your DYI efforts are unsuccessful, don’t wait and don’t pour any more money down the drain. Call a professional.

Sewer line clogs in Lake Dallas

Sewer line clogs can also be caused by grease, soap, and food scraps. One culprit of sewer line clogs that many homeowners fail to consider is sand. Sand, from the beach or the playground, can bind with grease and soap scum to make a solid cement-like blockage in your sewer lines.

Another cause of sewer line clogs are tree roots. Tree roots can creep into and even break into your sewer line. Once the roots are there, then the solid matter from the drains can snag and hold, building up to a blockage.

Unclogging a Sewer Line Removing sewer line clogs is a dirty job. Most sewer lines are buried under four to ten inches of soil, requiring a significant amount

of digging just to get to the line. In some cases, sewer lines run beneath driveways and sidewalks and reaching them takes much more than a shovel.

Clogged sewer lines nearly always need professional service people, with the proper equipment and know how, to get the job done quickly and reasonably.