Typically, your drains will let you know well in advance that you’re going to develop a complete clog. It is not uncommon to hear gurgling sounds from the drains, or see water backing up in the toilets or around the drains. These are typically sure signs that you have a clog forming, and that you need to take action before your plumbing completely backs up.

In addition, you may begin to smell sewage, like sulfur, prior to a drain clog. If you can smell sewage coming from your toilets or drains, you are certainly developing a drain clog. Prior to snaking your drains, try to use a liquid drain clog remover. If it isn’t a large or difficult clog, the drain clog remover will break it up and help it continue to flush down the drain piping. However, for large clogs, it is often necessary to snake your drains.

There are two drain auger styles. The first is the drain auger, or snake, that most everyone is familiar with. The second is much less well known, and it is the closet auger. The closet auger is much shorter than the drain auger. For most do it yourself jobs, you’ll be using the drain auger to snake your drain. Bear in mind, if your drain isn’t completely clogged, you can have a plumber come and clean your drains and that may help to alleviate the clog and get things moving normally again. When your pipes are cleaned, it is done by washing all of the debris and material down the drain with a high pressure water stream. In situations where the clog hasn’t completely blocked the drain, having your pipes cleaned may fix the problem.

If your drain is completely clogged, and you’re experiencing back up or gurgling, you’ll want to obtain a drain auger. It is sometimes difficult to do, as you need to ram the snake into the clog until it becomes wedged into the clog material. Then, you’ll need to pull the snake back to you, along with the clog. It is important that you bring the clog material up to the surface, otherwise it will simply get clogged in the drain line somewhere further down the line. Once you remove the material and the drain snake, your water flow through the drain should immediately return to normal. You can clean the snake, and properly store the snake.

 

For more information on plumbing and drain snaking, contact Vinny’s Jersey Plumbing, located in Wayne, New Jersey.  We also service other towns in New Jersey, such as Cliffside Park, Montclair and Verona.