Tag: Drain

How to Avoid Drain Clogs

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Many homeowners have experienced the inconvenience of drain clogs. When you want to take a long shower, standing in a pool of water is unpleasant, and when your sink won’t drain, a simple task like doing the dishes becomes difficult.

If you have a drain clog, one of the worst things you can do is purchase a liquid drain cleaner from a hardware or grocery store. Liquid cleaners emit toxic fumes, may seriously damage your pipes, and often do not even remove the clog. For some small problems, a plunger may do the trick, but for others, you’ll need to call a plumber for professional drain cleaning. Here are some tips to prevent such problems from occurring.

  • Get a Drain Cover: One of the most common causes of drain clogs in showers and sinks is hair. Hair can become caught in the p-trap, the curved section of pipe beneath a sink, or it may become stuck onto the sludge that builds up on the interior of drain pipes. While a drain cover may not completely prevent drain problems from occurring, it can significantly decrease buildup to reduce the likelihood of frequent clogs. You can purchase a drain cover for your sink or shower at most hardware stores.
  • Avoid Letting Certain Items Down the Drain: Your garbage disposal breaks up food into smaller pieces so that it can travel to the sewage system with the rest of your home’s wastewater. However, if the food you throw down the drain is too bulky, or if your disposal cannot break down the food properly, it may clog your drain. Avoid putting any non-food items down the garbage disposal as well as hard food items like popcorn kernels that your disposal may be unable to process. Dump fat, oil, or grease in a trash receptacle as these may solidify and cause drain clogs as well.
  • Schedule Professional Drain Cleaning: Scheduling professional drain cleaning is one of the best ways to ensure water and waste moves down your drain with ease. Professionals are equipped with special tools that can remove clogs deep within your pipes.

If you have problems with your drain in Waynesboro, call Larry & Sons, Inc. today!

Reduce the Risk of Repairs with Drain Maintenance

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Plumbing systems are a staple of every household, and most homeowners are accustomed to the reality of occasionally having to unclog the drains. If you’re having problems with your drain, there are plumbing services in Chambersburg PA with plenty of qualified plumbers ready to clear them up for you, but far better than repairing it is setting up a routine maintenance schedule for your system. Not only can you reduce the risk of repairs with drain maintenance, but you can help your system perform more efficiently as a result.

The maintenance service itself doesn’t address any specific problem. Rather, it’s kind of a tune-up session designed to catch multiple problems before they start. The technician arrives and performs a standard inspection of the drains, using a miniature video camera sent down the pipes to get a unique “inside” view of any problems. He or she can then note particular trouble spots, such as leaky spots or areas where build-up may eventually clog the system. With that knowledge in mind, he or she can then perform a general drain cleaning designed to remove any build up, as well as getting rid of tree roots and other potential mischief maker before they infiltrate your system. If further repairs are needed, you can schedule a session at your leisure: picking a time that works with your busy schedule rather than being forced to make time because of a plumbing emergency.

It’s not hard to see how you can reduce the risk of repairs with drain maintenance. By catching little problems before they have a chance to grow into big ones, the technician improves efficiency and helps your system perform at its peak. Even if repairs are needed, they’re likely to be less expensive than they might otherwise be: putting money back in your pocket and reducing the time spent on such repairs. If you’d like to set up a regular maintenance session for your drain, Chambersburg PA has the perfect service with Larry & Sons, Inc. Give us a call today to make an appointment, and let us help you keep your plumbing system running the way you need it to!

Common Causes of Drain Clogs

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Drain clogs are the most persistent and common of plumbing hassles: everyone has run into a drain clog in a home at some point. Although a few simple clogs you can clear away with a basic sink plunger, most require the work of licensed, trained plumbers to eliminate them. (Never resort to chemical drain cleaners; they can damage the interior of your pipes.) For fast service that will clear up you drains as soon as possible, rely on the trusted name of Larry & Sons, Inc. With more than 50 years of service to the local community, we are the people to call to help clean your drain in Middletown, MD.

Many different issues in plumbing can lead to rain blockage. Here are a few of the more common ones:

Liquid F.O.G. (Fat-Oil-Grease)

One of the biggest enemies of drains, especially in the kitchen, is liquid fat, oil, and grease. Although these may seem innocuous going down a drain in liquid form, they will all turn into waxy solids when they cool down and begin to coat the inside of drainpipes. Eventually, this coating will not only lead to clogging, but it will close the volume of a pipe enough to cause a spike in water pressure that will lead to leaks and other damage to plumbing. You can keep extra F.O.G. from your drains by always pouring the excess from cooking into a receptacle for the trash. However, you can’t keep all of it from entering the drains, and eventually you may need full drain cleaning to eliminate the build-up.

Hair and soap scum

This source of drain blockage is common in bathroom sinks and showers. You can prevent excess hair from going down the drain with drain covers, but avoiding soap scum can be more difficult.

Hard water deposits

If the water entering your house’s plumbing contains high levels of calcium and magnesium—i.e. “hard water”—it will begin to leave deposits inside the pipes that will start to accumulate to the point that your water pressure will increase and clogs will become frequent. If hard water is the source of your drainage problems, you should probably have a water softener installed in your plumbing.

Sewer line or septic tank damage

This is very much a worst case scenario, but it is also a common one. If your home’s pipeline to the municipal sewer system suffers from breaks or blockage, it will cause wastewater to begin to back up into your drains and lead to clogs. If you have a septic tank instead of a connection to a municipal sewer system, problems in the tank can lead to the same set of drain clogs. If the clogging you experience is happening around the house, and is accompanied by foul odors, call for professional plumbers immediately before sewage flooding starts in the basement or foundations of your home.

Regardless of what trouble has closed your drains in Middletown, MD, you can have it eliminated with the services of Larry & Sons, Inc. We handle jobs small and large, from a single drain clog to repairing and installing a new septic tank.