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Ensuring you get regular sewer and drain cleaning completed by a professional Edmonton plumber is key to preventing annoying clogged drains or—worse—a backed up sewer line.
For instance, imagine this: You’re having friends over for your weekly games night. The evening is going smoothly—everyone is enjoying the food, the competition of Settlers of Catan is fierce and your home is filled with laughter and new memories in the making.
Someone runs downstairs to get a new bag of chips and notices the carpet is wet. Naturally you check it out, only to find your sewer has backed up and part of your basement is flooded and really stinks.
Not only is the stench embarrassing, but you begin to panic. It’s 10:00 p.m. and you definitely have a backed-up sewer line.
Your friends offer to stay and help, but you know they’re just being polite. So, what do you do?
Call the professionals at Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Edmonton. We’re available to help in a plumbing emergency 24/7 and will ensure your backed-up sewer line is dealt with efficiently and correctly. Not only that, but with regularly scheduled sewer and drain cleaning services, we will catch problems before they escalate to a messy, stinky flood on your property.
Continue reading to learn how the team at Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Edmonton can help you with your sewer and drain cleaning needs—from small clogs in your kitchen sink to the worst plumbing nightmares.
How Often Should You Get Your Drains Cleaned?
While annual scheduled sewer and drain cleaning is best advised to help prevent clogged pipes and backed-up sewer lines, there are also a few tell-tale signs that you need to call a plumber for a professional cleaning service.
Signs that you need a professional sewer and drain cleaning service include:
You Regularly Pour Grease Down Your Kitchen Sink
Did you know that when grease cools down, it actually becomes solid at room temperature? Although your cooking oil or animal fat—such as bacon fat—might be liquid while you are cooking, if you put it down the sink it will cool and congest your pipes. Overtime, the grease will mix with other items that go down your kitchen sink, such as food scraps and debris. This is a recipe for a nasty clog.
The best way to dispose of grease is by storing it in a glass jar and throwing it out with your trash.
You Have Flushed Food Down Your Toilet
Your toilet is not made for disposing food. While it may seem like your toilet is powerful enough to get rid of food scraps—so that you avoid clogging up your kitchen sink—this is not the case. So, do your best to catch food scraps and either use your garburator or correctly dispose of things to the compost or garbage
Your Children Have Dropped Toys Down Your Drains or Toilet
Kids have a mysterious way of getting their toys stuck in the unlikeliest of places. Perhaps your curious little one wanted to see what happens if he or she throws their toy into the toilet. Perhaps your child’s toy accidentally got mixed up in the dirty dishes in your sink and now has caused a clog. Either way, children’s toys will only serve to wreak havoc on your plumbing.
Your Toilet Is Taking Longer Than Usual to Flush
If your toilet is having trouble flushing, this could be a sign that a clog is forming. If you’re having problems with your toilet, it’s important to call the professionals before it becomes an expensive problem. Our expert drain and sewer cleaning services will ensure that what may start as a seemingly small clog does not cause a more serious problem—such as your sewer line backing up.
You Have Slow Draining Sinks or Showers
If your shower or sinks take forever to drain or have a way of retaining standing water, then take it as a sign you have a clogged drain. If the drain does not go away by flushing boiling water down your sink or shower, then we suggest you call a professional plumber for help.
You Hear Gurgling Noises in Your Walls
While it might be more fun to imagine your house has a friendly ghost living in it, the real reason why your walls are gurgling is because the waste water moving through your home has to squeeze through build-up in the pipes. Should you hear a gurgling noise when you flush the toilet or turn on the sink, this is also a sign that you have build-up in your pipes.
You Have Fruit Flies
Fruit flies are pesky and tricky to get rid of. If you can’t figure out where the fruit flies are coming from in your otherwise spotless home, then the culprit might be your drains. It is likely that the flies are attracted to food waste stuck in your drains. A professional sewer and drain cleaning service will take care of both the clogged drain and the annoying fruit flies.
Bad Smells Are Coming Out of Your Sinks
If your drains are not working properly, then sewage and waste will build up in your pipes. This will cause an unpleasant smell to infiltrate through your home. Should you or your family smell any gas coming out of your pipes, then you need to call a professional immediately. This might mean you have a broken sewer line. Also, prolonged exposure to sewage gas can negatively impact the health of your family.
You Have Flushed Personal Hygiene Items Down the Toilet
In line with food items and children’s toys, hygiene items such as baby wipes, diapers, makeup removing wipes and feminine hygiene items should never be flushed down the toilet. Your plumbing is not built to get rid of these items correctly and you could clog up your pipes.
You Have Multiple Clogged Drains
If you have multiple clogged drains in your home, then you have a serious plumbing problem on your hands. Having more than one drain clogged at once can indicate that you have a main sewer clog. To avoid a subsequent flood from your sewage line, it's best to call our expert plumbing team at 780-429-3600 immediately.
What to Expect from One of Our Sewer and Drain Cleaning Services
From the moment you call one of our friendly administrative staff to the minute our licensed and insured plumbers leave your Edmonton home, we do our absolute best to put your needs first and help make you and your family feel at ease during a potentially very stressful situation.
Here is a breakdown of what you can expect from our sewer and drain cleaning professionals:
The Initial Phone Call
When you give Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Edmonton a call, we understand that you are likely experiencing a stressful plumbing situation. That is why each of our friendly and courteous staff is trained to be as helpful and considerate as possible. We go the distance for each of our customers experiencing a plumbing concern.
The Initial Assessment
We then send over one of our certified plumbers to take a look at your sewer and drain cleaning needs. We always arrive in a timely manner, wearing the Mr. Rooter uniform and using a company vehicle. We pride ourselves on being professionals.
Receiving the Quote
After inspecting your plumbing issue, we take a moment to explain what the problem is and how we intend on fixing it. It’s at this point that you receive a quote for the job. We use a flat rate with upfront pricing so that the agreed upon price before completing any work is the cost you can expect when we present the bill.
Completing the Work
Once all parties have agreed on the required work and cost, we get busy cleaning your sewer and/or drains. First, we will use our plumbing video cameras to non-invasively confirm the location and severity of the clog.
After the inspection is completed, there are two ways we will clean your drains:
Hydroscrub® Jetting: Our Hydroscrub® Jetting services are a powerful way to remove excessive build-up in your pipes. Unlike traditional pipe clearing methods, this process can clear away years of build-up in your plumbing system. Hydroscrub® Jetting clears away this grime with highly pressurized water. This is a great way to prevent soft deposits from developing in your pipes.
Plumbing Auger: We use this technique when you already have a serious clog in your pipes, and it has to be manually removed. A plumbing auger, also known as a plumber’s snake, looks like a coiled metal rope with a crank at one end. It’s used to dislodge clogs that are blocking your drains.
Completing the Clean-up
Once we have finished our sewer and drain cleaning tasks and your drains are back in working order, we will clean up any mess that we’ve made. We always treat you, your family and your home with respect and that means ensuring we leave your home as tidy as we found it. With the exception of your newly cleaned pipes, your house will look like we were never there.
The Final Touch
Before we leave your home, our courteous and knowledgeable plumbers will take a moment to let you know how our work was performed. We believe it’s important for Edmonton homeowners to understand how their plumbing works and better manage their homes. We will also let you know about any maintenance that may be required. It’s at this point that we present our bill, which will be the same price agreed upon before any work began. Lastly, we leave you with peace of mind knowing that all our parts and workmanship are fully guaranteed.
How to Prevent Clogged Drains or Backed-Up Sewer Lines
One of the best ways to avoid having to deal with clogged pipes is to make sure that the above mentioned clogging items never make it down your kitchen sink, bathtub or toilet. To complete our list of banned items, keep all of the following items away:
Grease
Kitty litter
Coffee grounds
Eggshells
Produce stickers
Paper towels
Cotton balls
Makeup wipes/cleaning wipes
Medication
Feminine hygiene products
Paint
Bones
Fibrous foods like celery
Flour
Raw meat
Potato peels
Pits, seeds and kernels
Pasta and rice
Another way to avoid clogged pipes is to schedule regular sewer and drain cleaning services. This is particularly helpful if you can’t remember the last time your pipes were cleaned, or if you recently moved into a new house and are unsure of the state of its plumbing.
Lastly, there are a few DIY tips to help upkeep your home’s plumbing. These include:
Use a screen or drain gate to catch hair, soap scum and food scraps from getting into your pipes.
Run hot water through the sink after using it to help flush away any build-up in your pipes.
From time to time, put about a cup of baking soda into the drain and flush it with boiling water. Baking soda is a natural cleaning agent and will help your drains smell better.
Clean your drains using one cup of baking soda followed by one cup of vinegar. Be sure to close the drain off since you want the chemical reaction to go down into your pipes, not back up.
Call the Pros at Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Edmonton
Are you ready to schedule sewer and drain cleaning services with the professionals at Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Edmonton? Our friendly and courteous staff is available 24/7 to help in a plumbing emergency. We invite you to give us a call at 780-429-3600 or to request a quote online.