What Your Plumber Wishes You Wouldn't Do to Fix a Blocked Drain

Some plumbers actually don't like it when they arrive at a home and find that a homeowner has tried to address certain plumbing problems only to make them worse. A plumber may earn more money for being there longer, but if you've made their job harder and more complicated than it should have been, chances are that many plumbers will say that they wish you had simply called them from the outset of a plumbing problem instead. Note a few things your plumber probably wishes you wouldn't do to fix a blocked drain and why it's good to avoid these mistakes.

Using a garden hose or pressure washer

A professional plumber may use a power wand of some sort with pressurized water to push a clog through a drain, or to clean out old drains with lots of residue that is causing clogs. However, the equipment they use is not the same as your garden hose or pressure washer; their equipment is made specifically for plumbing pipes so that it doesn't create too much pressure and cause a burst pipe. A plumber also knows how to control the pressure of this equipment based on the clog itself. If you use a garden hose, you may find that you simply create a flood from not having enough water pressure to push a clog through a pipe, and if you use a pressure washer, you could cause a burst pipe from too much pressure. Both lead to a mess that will make it more difficult to fix your pipe.

Use a coat hanger

An old wire coat hanger may seem like a good idea when it comes to clearing a clog, but more likely than not, you'll simply get the hanger stuck in the clog itself. This too makes it harder for the plumber to clear the clog as he or she will need to work around the hanger or somehow get it out first before they can address the clog itself.

Banging on the pipes

You might assume you can simply knock a clog loose if you start banging on exposed pipes, but a clogged drain is not like getting a coin stuck in a vending machine. That clog is probably clinging to the walls of the drain and may be very compacted, having been built up over time. Banging on exposed pipes can mean bending and even breaking them, and this can mean a mess that the plumber will need to work around to find the clog and address it.

Next time you run into a clog, contact a plumber for a blocked drain clearing instead of trying to tackle it yourself.

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