Professional St. Louis, MO Drain Cleaning solves slow drains, recurring clogs, and water backups before they turn into bigger plumbing problems. No matter what draining issues your house has,, professional drain cleaning improves the flow and helps prevent future complications. 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 clean your drains today.
Experienced and reliable, our team of plumbing professionals treats your St. Louis, MO home as if it were our own. We handle sinks, sewers, drain inspection, and other plumbing services meant to stop problems before they get out of hand.
On this page, we'll be reviewing warning signs of a dirty drain, potential complications from dirty drains, frequent questions regarding drain cleaning, and the St. Louis, MO drain cleaning services we provide at Signature Plumbing.
- 5 Signs Your St. Louis, MO Drain Needs to be Cleaned
- How to Know If You Need Drain Cleaning or Sewer Cleaning in St. Louis, MO
- Common Drain Cleaning Problems in St. Louis, MO
- Our St. Louis, MO Drain Cleaning Services
- St. Louis, MO Drain Cleaning FAQs
- Contact Signature Plumbing For Your St. Louis, MO Drain Cleaning Needs
Hear from our local customers in our reviews to learn why we've been St. Louis, MO's top plumbing service since we first opened in 2011.
How to Know If You Need Drain Cleaning or Sewer Cleaning
A single slow drain often means a local clog. Backups in more than one area of the home can mean the problem is farther down the line. This table can help you decide what kind of cleaning you may need:
| Signs It May Be a Drain Cleaning Issue | You May Need Sewer Cleaning |
|---|---|
| One sink, tub, shower, or toilet is draining slowly | Several fixtures are draining poorly, gurgling, or backing up together |
| 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 |
| The likely cause is everyday buildup like hair, soap residue, grease, food waste, or small debris | The issue may involve the main line, including roots, major buildup, pipe damage, or a deeper obstruction |
| The drain clears for a while after cleaning and does not affect other fixtures | The problem comes back soon after clearing, especially with sewer odors or multiple affected drains |
If you are not sure where the clog is, Signature Plumbing can inspect the line and recommend the right cleaning method. For drain cleaning or sewer cleaning in St. Louis, call (636) 742-2533 or contact us online.
5 Signs Your St. Louis, MO Drain Needs to be Cleaned
To protect your home from drain issues and water damage, keep an eye on your drain's capabilities and pay attention to any signs that drain cleaning is required. We've picked out our five top signals to keep track of below:
1. Slow Drains
If it's taking a while for your sinks, showers, bathrooms, and/or more to drain water, there might be a blockage. Whether intentionally or not, everyone inevitably sends more than water down the drain, and over time hair, food scraps, toiletries, and more ammasses into a clog. Professional cleaning can clear your pipes, letting your water flow freely again.
2. Water Backing Up
Depending on your home's piping, having a clog in one area can force water back up somewhere else. For example, if your toilet line is clogged, the toilet could initially appear to flush as normal. Instead, water could back up out of a drain in your shower, since it is unable to go through its normal pipe.
3. Foul Odors
Watch out for bad smells that are present in and around your drain. Dirt, grime, bacteria, and fungi are not the only reasons for bad smells. Foul odors can also be caused by clogs in the pipes, resulting in sewage backup and air bubbles. 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 further decrease your house's plumbing performance. Besides being annoying, these sounds are signals that something larger could be wrong.
5. Multiple Clogged Lines
Finally, all of the signs above can be exacerbated by having multiple clogged lines. Having multiple blockages in your home's plumbing system can result in slow drains, water backup, foul odors, and gurgling sounds at any of the drains. It's also possible that rather than multiple smaller clogs, you have one large one.
If you're noticing all of the above signs for more than one drain in your home, it's possible that there's another root cause: Issues with your main sewer line. A main sewer line issue is an emergency because sewage can potentially contaminate your home's clean water supply. If you suspect your sewer system is broken, it's critical to call a plumber right away.
Common Drain Cleaning Problems in St. Louis, MO
Cleaning your drains is more than removing dirt – it's a key part of caring for your home. Letting too much debris build up can damage your home's value, increase health risks, attract insects and rodents, and lower your house's plumbing efficiency.
Corrosion
When a blockage occurs in your St. Louis, MO drain and pipes, it can slowly but steadily corrode the pipes, causing damage over time. This results from increased friction, changing the pH of the water, or both. Corrosion is extra difficult because it normally can't be detected externally until it cracks and releases water.
Clogs
Clogs can occur when debris builds up and narrows the drain, creating bottlenecks and even blockages. After that, with your drain's capacity lowered, its performance will suffer, and it can start sending the waste water back up. Or, if pressure builds up, it can create a crack in the pipe.
Water Damage
If your pipe springs a leak, water can flood part of your home, causing serious damage. it may be visible, 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 be sources of health issues, too. The organic matter present in dirty pipes can create a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi, which can spread and become airborne. What's more, they can also increase pipe corrosion, leading to more issues.
Pest Infestations
Buildup of food waste and standing water can attract pests, particularly insects. In St. Louis, MO, mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches can all build up colonies in these conditions and become long-term infestations. 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
Without regular drain cleaning, you'll run into issues with your day-to-day plumbing performance. It may not be obvious at first, but having your drains perform suboptimally will become more of a hindrance than you realize:
- Trouble washing the dishes
- Toilets that don't flush properly
- Dirty or low-pressure showers
Over time, the buildup will increase and block the pipe entirely. At this stage, cracks will start to form, spilling out water and hurting your property's value. To prevent this, do what you can to ensure that only water (and in the toilet, waste) goes down the pipes and hire a plumber to inspect them regularly.
Our St. Louis, MO Drain Cleaning Services
Whatever your drain cleaning needs are, Signature Plumbing is up to the task. 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 St. Louis, 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, originating from washing machine sediment, heavy rain, or something else. We don't stop at just unblocking your drain. We'll look for any damage to your foundation or leaking pipes.
- Sewer Drain Cleaning: At the end of your home's plumbing system, your sewer is vulnerable to clogs from anything that clogged any of the other drains in your house, and external threatslike tree roots on top of it. If we find any damage while unclogging your drain, we can excavate the sewer line to go in and fix it.
- Toilet Drain Cleaning: Wipes (despite some being called flushable) frequently cause blockages, in addition to toilet paper and other debris. Our industrial grade cleaners, drain snakes, and hydro jets are fine-tuned to manage stubborn clogs.
- Bathtub Drain Cleaning: Hair, soap, dirt, and pet fur all tend to run down shower and bath drains, resulting in 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: At Signature Plumbing, we go the extra mile beyond fixing your drain – with our drain inspection services, we can look further into your pipes to find any deeper issues that are causing clogs. This can eliminate guesswork and confirm whether or not you have a larger problem.
Contact us today for 24/7 drain cleaning (or other plumbing) services, at 636-742-2533.
St. Louis, MO Drain Cleaning FAQs
Drain cleaning in St. Louis, MO depends on both you and the professional cleaners - regular professional drain cleaning attacks the tough clogs, while individual maintenance keeps the pipes clean in the interim. Signature Plumbing has answers to some of the most popular St. Louis, MO drain cleaning questions:
Should I use chemical drain cleaners?
We don't recommend using chemical drain cleaners for several 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 mix with other chemicals in your pipes to make harmful compounds.
Can clogged drains make you sick?
Yes, in two ways. First, clogs often provide food for harmful bacteria and fungi. If they grow unchecked, you're risking your health by being around the given drain.
Second, if the water cannot flow past a block, it can cause waste water to back up, contaminating the rest of your St. Louis, MO home's water system.
How often should drain pipes be cleaned in St. Louis, MO?
Most homes benefit from professional drain cleaning every 6 months to 1 year, so that they can eliminate any major blocks. You can do your own month-to-month home cleanings to decrease buildup.
What things should I avoid putting down drains?
While it would be impossible to make a truly comprehensive list, below are some common items that people tend to flush down their drains, but actually shouldn't:
- 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, eventually, some sort of debris will accumulate in your pipes. 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 bad for some common pipe materials, so we don't recommend pouring boiling water down any of your drains. There are occasionally plumbing systems which can handle boiling water, but using warm (not boiling) water has many of the same benefits, 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 guard against grease blockages.
Let Signature Plumbing Handle Your St. Louis, MO Drain Cleaning Needs
St. Louis, MO drain cleaning isn't always fun work, but it is always important. At Signature Plumbing we're dedicated to providing top quality plumbing service for your home.
- Licensed Plumbing Professionals: Our team is licensed, insured, and have extensive experience serving the St. Louis, MO area.
- Highly Responsive: Our phones are online 24/7 to help with everything from cleanings to plumbing emergencies.
- Transparent Pricing: We won't add new fees partway through the cleaning - we're open with our pricing and quotes at the start of the work.
- On-The-Spot Fixes: Our team's trucks are stocked to fix any common issues we find, so if something else is wrong beyond the original issue, we're still prepared.
We also offer these services in St. Louis, MO:
- Sump Pump Installation
- Plumbing Stack Repair & Replacement
- Toilet Repair
- Sewer Repair
- Licensed Plumbers Near Me
- Same-Day Sewer and Drain Cleaning
- Bathroom Drain Cleaning
- Emergency Drain Cleaning Services
- Drain Cleaning Services
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 St. Louis, MO drain cleaning needs.