Clogs in any sink in the house are one of the most common and aggravating of residential plumbing issues. Fortunately, a simple sink plunger will eliminate most of the basic types of clogs and restore the flow of water. But sometimes clogs will develop inside sinks—particularly the ones in bathrooms and the kitchen—that won’t respond to the action of a plunger. These call for the assistance of a professional plumber. (Do not use chemical drain cleaners; the acid in them can severely damage the pipes, and they are also highly toxic.)
Below are some of the common reasons that bathrooms drains—sinks, showers, bathtubs—become clogged. If you need drain cleaning in Denver or the surrounding areas that will safely and thoroughly eliminate such clogs, look to the many years of experience at Bell Plumbing and Heating.
3 common reasons for bathroom sink clogs
- Hair: It is hard to avoid hair going down the drains in sinks and showers, although you can help reduce this using a drain cover. Hair will easily catch down in the sludge that often coats the sides of the drain pipe, especially in the p-trap (the u-shaped curved section of pipe directly under a sink), and soon this accumulation will turn into a thick snarl that will block the drain entirely—and won’t respond to a plunger. Professional plumbers will use motorized drain snakes to take care of these types of clogs.
- Soap scum: Soap is another item that is difficult to prevent from entering a bathroom drain. Soap leaves a residue—soap scum—along the interior of pipes over time. Soap scum poses a double threat to your plumbing: it can accrue to the point of causing a slow or blocked drain, and it can create an acidic chemical that will damage the pipes. Plumbers will use hydro-jetters that blast high-pressure water along the interior of the pipes to eliminate soap scum thoroughly.
- Small objects: Bathroom sinks and the ledges of showers and bathtubs often hold numerous small objects that can easily topple over and become lodged inside a drainpipe. The caps from bottles are one of the most frequent offenders. Tissue and other paper can also go down the sink and lead to blockages. Sometime you might even lose a valuable item down the drain. In all cases, call on a plumber to unclog the drain (and retrieve the object, if necessary), which will sometimes involve unscrewing the pipes.
Preventive drain cleaning using hydro-jetters will give you “like-new” drainpipes and fewer hassles from slow drains and clogs in the future.
If clogs have become a frequent occurrence in your bathroom plumbing, schedule a complete drain cleaning from the professionals at Bell Plumbing and Heating.
