Have your past few showers drained so slowly that you felt like you were taking a bath? Are your sinks filling up with water immediately after turning on the faucet? Your water might not be flowing like it should because of a clog in your main sewer line, and multiple clogged drains in your Plainfield home are a sign of a serious back-up.

To prevent bigger back-ups from occurring, understanding what causes clogs is incredibly important. Some common reasons why your Plainfield home’s drains aren’t flowing like they should include:

  • Tree Roots – One of the main causes of clogs and main drain backups are rogue tree roots! Roots from trees spread out over time and can make their way into your sewer lines and piping via cracks, gaps or other piping weaknesses.
  • Hair – We’ve all seen hair buildup on the outside of drains, so just imagine what it looks like when all that hair goes down the drain and collects. Over an extended period of time, hair can form into a mass that keeps water from getting through.
  • Food/Debris – Anything you flush down the drain when you’re cooking, like seeds, pasta, coffee grounds, etc., can all pool up and eventually cause a clog in your sewer line.
  • Fat – When cooking fat cools, it changes from a liquid to a solid. Pouring fat down your drains will cause it to collect, harden and cool in your sewer line where it will form a large, hard blockage.

A clog in your sewer line doesn’t happen overnight, even if it might seem like it has to you. In fact, serious clogs take months, or even years, to form enough for you to notice inside your home. So, what can you do to do to avoid a back-up? Try these tips to keep things flowing:

    1. Check with professionals to locate plumbing before planting any trees or plants.
    2. Never pour cooking fat down the drain. Instead, pour it into a cup and throw it out once it’s hard.
    3. Avoid putting certain food items down your garbage disposal, like rinds, large pits, and other hard, large parts of produce
    4. Place hair-catching drain covers over your drains and clean them frequently. Catchers can keep hair from forming a large ball deep inside the drain.
If you’re dealing with a possible main line back-up in your Plainfield home or business, it’s time to call Justin Dorsey Plumbing! Our team is here to inspect, diagnose the problem and thoroughly clear everything out so your drains and plumbing can flow properly. And for a limited time, we’re offering a FREE camera inspection with a main drain service call.