Drains are installed for flushing waste and wastewater out of a building. This makes them the perfect place for harboring mold and encouraging bacterial growth. Therefore, cleaning the drains and maintaining them is important for safety, health, and comfort purposes.
Moreover, proper drain cleaning not only ensures better health but also takes care of appropriate functionality of the plumbing system. Investing your time and effort in the development, maintaining, and cleaning of the drains and pipes can help you a lot in the long run.
If done on a regular basis, drain cleaning can prove to be extremely convenient and help in the prevention of plumbing problems.
Drain Cleaning—how frequently?
There are various sources of drain blockage. In the kitchen: residual food particles, food borne pathogenic germs, and any other kitchen waste flushed through the drains and pipes.
Similarly, the bathrooms are a source of various types of wastes including residue from washing, bathing, and brushing teeth. All the wastewater passes through the drains and the grimy materials are liable to get deposited there.
If these areas are not regularly cleaned, buildups from mold growth, oils, and germs can develop, resulting in bad odors and dirty sights. Ultimately, the situation can lead to serious threats to the health of the people living there. Therefore, it is essential to give proper attention to drain cleaning.
To ensure that your drains stay debris free and fresh, the best practice is to add drain cleaning to your daily cleaning routine. According to the experts, washing the drains with boiling water once in a week is a sufficient practice for keeping most of the germs and mold growth under control.
Why is it important to clean the drains on a regular basis?
It is important to add drain cleaning into your daily cleaning regime because if it is not done on a regular basis, it can lead to bigger problems later. Apart from being a bigger nuisance, the cost of repairing more serious plumbing problems is also higher.
Moreover, there is no way to guess the extent of damage that a seemingly small problem is causing to your plumbing system. For example, an apparently harmless slow drain may be hiding a much more serious plumbing issue behind it and you will have no idea. The more you neglect a problem, thinking that it is not a big one, the more are the chances of its developing into something serious.
Investing in regular drain cleaning and plumbing maintenance is a lot like going for an insurance policy. You have to pay initially but the long-term benefits are many times greater than the initial investment. For example, it may become rather difficult for you to bear a flooded basement, which is contaminated with slur and sewage if you know that a small proactive investment could have stopped this from happening.
The ultimate aim is to save money as well as time while at the same time, being able to maintain and preserve the integrity of your residence and its plumbing systems. The properly functioning kitchen and bathrooms are essential. Nobody would want to stand ankle deep in a puddle of water when the shower is clogged. Considering the water’s propensity of carrying and transporting germs and diseases, proper and regular drain cleaning is essential in order to ensure highest level of cleanliness and hygiene.
While most of the drainage problems seem like DIY tasks, this is not the case. In fact, it is rather difficult to diagnose the pipe and drain problems and it is always advisable to use the expertise of a licensed plumbing company for properly addressing the plumbing and drainage problems. Mistakenly diagnosing a plumbing problem and then treating it incorrectly through excessive usage of drain cleaners and disassembling the pipes may produce unexpected results, leaning towards more damage than eradicating the plumbing problem.
Cleaning and Maintenance of Drains
Here are a few tips to help you with cleaning and maintenance of the drains:
Basic Cleaning for Maintenance
One way to ensure proper cleaning of the tubs and sinks is to fill them with boiling water and to open the drain. This will allow the water to move in a systematic way, ensuring proper cleaning instead of just passing through a path of least resistance. Moreover, to add an element of freshness, you can use vinegar and baking soda as well.
Mold Cleaning
In case you are looking for ways to clean mold from your bathroom or shower pipes, you are recommended to use baking soda and a drain brush for scrubbing out the area. Then flush it thoroughly with vinegar and water.
Cleaning Hair Clogs
This is the biggest of all the nuisances that can affect your drains. It is a problem of such an extent that in case of significant build-up, it is always better to hire the services of an expert to have it cleaned instead of trying to do it yourself. It is recommended to invest in a good drain strainer for prevention purposes.
Blockages
If using hot water does not do the trick for clearing out minor blockages for your sinks and getting rid of odors and molds, then it is best to call for a plumber. If DIY methods are not working, it is an indication of a deeper and more serious problem, most probably inside the pipes and needs proper examining. Most importantly, you are advised against using chemical products as they can cause corrosion inside the pipes, which will only worsen the problem further.
Regular maintenance and drain cleaning are the ultimate ways of preventing common clogged drains and problems of odor. If using natural home remedies on your blocked drains does not work, then it is high time for you to hire the services of an experienced plumber to examine and fix the deep-rooted problems of your drains.
For those of you residing in Mesa, Apache Junction, Fountain Hills, Chandler, Golden Canyon, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Higley, San Tan Valley, Sun Lakes, Scottsdale, and Tempe in Arizona, Mesa Plumbing is an excellent and reliable option to have your plumbing repairs addressed.