Professional Affton, MO Drain Cleaning solves drain plumbing issues before they turn into bigger plumbing problems. Regardless of what draining problems you're facing, professional drain cleaning protects your pipes and helps prevent repeat issues. Signature Plumbing's licensed experts are available 24/7 to help your home. get in touch today at (636) 742-2533 or get in touch online to schedule your drain cleaning appointment today.
Experienced and reliable, our team of plumbing professionals treats your Affton, MO house's plumbing with care. We handle sinks, sewers, drain inspection, and other plumbing operations which protects your home from water damage.
On this page, we'll be reviewing signs your drain needs service, consequences of not cleaning your drain, frequent questions regarding drain cleaning, and the Affton, MO drain cleaning services we assist you with at Signature Plumbing.
- 5 Signs Your Affton, MO Drain Needs to be Cleaned
- How to Know If You Need Drain Cleaning or Sewer Cleaning in Affton, MO
- Common Drain Cleaning Problems in Affton, MO
- Our Affton, MO Drain Cleaning Services
- Affton, MO Drain Cleaning FAQs
- Contact Signature Plumbing For Your Affton, MO Drain Cleaning Needs
Hear from our local customers in our reviews to learn why we've been Affton, MO's number one plumbers for over a decade.
How to Tell the Difference Between Drain Cleaning and Sewer Cleaning
If one sink, tub, shower, or toilet is acting up, the clog may be close to that fixture. If several drains are slow, gurgling, or backing up at the same time, the main sewer line may be involved. Use this quick guide to compare the signs:
| Signs It May Be a Drain Cleaning Issue | Sewer Cleaning May Be Needed |
|---|---|
| Only one drain in the home is slow, clogged, or struggling to empty | More than one drain is affected, especially in different rooms or levels of the home |
| The problem appears to stay near one sink, tub, shower, or toilet | Backups show up in floor drains, tubs, showers, toilets, or the lowest drains in the home |
| Hair, soap, grease, food scraps, or small debris may be causing buildup | Roots, pipe damage, heavy scale, settled lines, or a main sewer blockage may be part of the problem |
| The drain clears for a while after cleaning and does not affect other fixtures | Backups keep returning, smell like sewage, or spread to more than one fixture |
If the source of the clog is unclear, Signature Plumbing can check the affected drains, determine whether the issue is local or main-line related, and recommend the right next step. To schedule drain or sewer cleaning in Affton, call (636) 742-2533 or reach out online.
5 Signs Your Affton, MO Drain Needs to be Cleaned
To protect your home from drain issues and water damage, keep track of your drain's capacity and watch out for signs that you need to have it cleaned. We've picked out our five top signs to keep track of below:
1. Slow Drains
If it's taking a while for your appliances to drain water, there might be a blockage. Regardless of how careful you are, everyone occasionally sends things we aren't supposed to down the drain, and over time hair, food scraps, toiletries, and more ammasses into a clog. Professional cleaning can clear your pipes, improving your drains' performance.
2. Water Backing Up
Depending on your home's piping, having a clog in one area can cause water to back up in another. For example, if your toilet line is clogged, it may not be immediately noticeable at the toilet. Instead, water may start to come up the drain of the sink, unable to properly flow into the correct pipe.
3. Foul Odors
be wary of foul odors in and around your drain. Dirt, grime, bacteria, and fungi are not the only reasons for bad smells. Foul odors can also be the result of sewage backup or air getting stuck in the pipes. At first, it's just a bad smell, but extended exposure can be dangerous.
4. Gurgling Sounds
Having a partially clogged line can result in gurgling or bubbling noises coming from trapped air. This allows some water to flow through, but creates bubbles and air pockets that aren't supposed to be there. Besides being annoying, these sounds are signs of a larger issue underneath.
5. Multiple Clogged Lines
Finally, all these issues can be amplified by having multiple clogged lines. The more clogs and blocks in your home's plumbing, the more you will see slow drains, water backup, foul odors, and gurgling sounds at any of the drains. Sometimes, though, it's not a set of separate clogs, but actually one major one.
If you see all the warnings at multiple drains, you might actually be up against a larger problem: Issues with your main sewer line. A main sewer line issue is an emergency because get into your home's clean water system, causing sickness. If you are concerned this could be the case, it's important to reach out to a plumber right away.
Common Drain Cleaning Problems in Affton, MO
Cleaning your drains does more than improve the appearance – it's important for the long-term health and safety of your home. Buildups of contaminants reduce your property value, increase your chance of getting sick, attract insects and rodents, and degrade your home's overall plumbing performance.
Corrosion
When debris gets stuck in your Affton, MO drain and pipes, it can slowly but steadily corrode the pipes, priming them for cracks and breaks. This is caused via increased friction, changing the pH of the water, or both. Corrosion is particularly dangerous because it normally can't be detected from outside the pipe until it cracks and releases water.
Clogs
Clogs can occur when debris accumulates, tapering the drain, creating bottlenecks and even blockages. Then, because your drain's flow rate is reduced, its performance will suffer, and eventually it can spit debris and dirty water back up the drain. Or, if pressure builds up, it can cause your pipe to crack.
Water Damage
If your pipe springs a leak, major water damage can result. You might be able to see it, but sometimes it can happen behind the walls and below the floors. If water leaks in these areas, the damage can be deep and structural, necessitating repairs.
Health Risks: Bacteria, Mold, and Mildew
Bacteria, mold, and mildew aren't don't just smell bad – they can negatively impact your health, too. The organic matter buildup makes an ideal environment for bacteria and fungi to grow, which can expand and get into your air. On top of that, they can also damage the pipe structure, causing additional problems.
Pest Infestations
Moist environments with organic matter can attract pests, particularly insects. In Affton, MO, mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches can all survive and thrive in these conditions and create long-standing problems. Working with an exterminator can expel the pests, and working with a plumber to clean the drains can fight against their return.
Reduced Performance in Your Home's Plumbing
If you don't clean your drains regularly, you'll run into issues with your day-to-day plumbing performance. It may not be obvious at first, but slow drains will impact your daily life:
- Sinks full of dirt and gunk
- Difficulty getting the toilet to fully flush
- Dirty or low-pressure showers
Eventually, the clog will acquire more and more material, resulting in a complete blockage. At this stage, your pipes may start to leak, spilling out water and damaging your property's value. To prevent this, don't send any grease, oils, or solid matter down your drains and work with a plumber to inspect them regularly.
Our Affton, MO Drain Cleaning Services
Regardless of which drain is blocked and how, Signature Plumbing is equipped for the job. Our goal is to fix the problem, whatever the cause is.
- Sink Drain Cleaning: Food, hair, and even toothpaste can get into sink drains and cause clogs. Our Affton, MO drain cleaning professionals break up blocks effortlessly.
- Basement Drain Cleaning: Their natural low level makes basement drains prone to collecting debris from everywhere in the house, coming from kitchen sink food scraps, bathroom drain toothpaste, or something else. We don't stop at just unblocking your drain. We'll look for any damage to your foundation or damaged pipes.
- Sewer Drain Cleaning: At the end of your home's plumbing system, your sewer is at risk of clogs from everything that goes down the drains in your home, and external threatslike tree roots on top of it. If we find any damage while cleaning, we can excavate the sewer line to go in and restore it.
- Toilet Drain Cleaning: Wipes (even if they are labelled as flushable) frequently cause blockages, in addition to toilet paper and other debris. Our industrial grade cleaners, drain snakes, and hydro jets are specially made to handle tough clogs.
- Bathtub Drain Cleaning: Hair, soap, dirt, and pet fur often collect in shower and bath drains, leading to buildups and blocks over time. We'll clean out any mold or mildew that's grown in addition to removing the debris.
- Drain Camera Inspections: Beyond uncloging your drain, we search for other issues in your plumbing – with our drain inspection services, we can look further into your pipes to find any deeper issues that are causing clogs. This can give you an answer on whether something is seriously wrong with your plumbing.
Contact us today for 24/7 drain cleaning (or other plumbing) services, at 636-742-2533.
Affton, MO Drain Cleaning FAQs
Drain cleaning in Affton, MO is a collaborative effort - regular professional drain cleaning wipes out blockages, while individual maintenance keeps the pipes clean in the interim. Here are answers to some of the most widespread Affton, MO drain cleaning questions:
Should I use chemical drain cleaners?
We don't recommend the use of chemical drain cleaners for multiple reasons - they can damage your pipes, often don't work in the case of total blockages, and can be hazardous to your health. If they don't fully flush out, too, they can combine with other chemicals in your plumbing system to make dangerous compounds.
Can clogged drains make you sick?
Yes, in two ways. First, clogs can create breeding grounds for harmful bacteria and fungi. Without cleaning, you risk infections just by being around the given drain.
Second, if the clog stops water from flowing in the proper direction, it can cause waste water to back up, contaminating other parts of your Affton, MO home's water system.
How often should drain pipes be cleaned in Affton, MO?
Most homes benefit from professional drain cleaning every 6 months to 1 year, in order to knock out any heavy-duty clogs. You can do your own monthly maintenance to prevent buildup.
What things should I avoid putting down drains?
While a complete list of items would go on forever, below are some things people frequently tend to put down their drains, but should put elsewhere:
- Fats/Oils/Grease
- Coffee Grounds
- Egg Shells
- Paper (besides Toilet Paper)
- Cleaning Products
- Rice or Pasta
- Paint
What are common causes of drain clogs?
No matter how hard you try to avoid sending any of the above examples down your drains, at some point, some sort of debris will build up in them. Grease, hair, soap, and food waste are the reasons behind most clogs.
Is it okay to pour boiling water down the drain?
Probably not - boiling water is harmful to certain pipe materials, so we advice you to let water cool before pouring it in a drain. There are some limited examples where it is not harmful, but you can get similar cleaning effects with less warm water, while protecting your plumbing.
How can I protect my drain?
Besides regular cleaning/inspections, take advantage of drain covers to stop unwanted substances from flowing down. Keep food scraps out of the garbage disposal. And pour hot (not boiling!) water down the drain weekly to wipe away oils before they become clogs.
Let Signature Plumbing Handle Your Affton, MO Drain Cleaning Needs
Affton, MO drain cleaning isn't always easy, but it is always important. At Signature Plumbing we bring years of experience and expertise to your home.
- Licensed Plumbing Professionals: Our team is licensed, insured, and have been serving Affton, MO for over a decade.
- Highly Responsive: Our team is on standby 24/7 to assist with everything from minor clogs to plumbing emergencies.
- Transparent Pricing: We won't surprise you with fees halfway through the work - we're clear with our pricing and quotes before you hire us.
- On-The-Spot Fixes: Our team is equipped to fix whatever issues we find, so if we find bigger or deeper issues than we initially thought, we're still prepared.
We also offer these services in Affton, MO:
- Sump Pump Installation
- Plumbing Stack Repair & Replacement
- Toilet Repair
- Sewer Repair
- Licensed Plumbers Near Me
Don't let blocks or clogs become a drain on your life. Call us today at (636) 742-2533 or contact us online for all your Affton, MO drain cleaning needs.