{"id":6112,"date":"2019-07-04T17:22:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T07:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/"},"modified":"2019-07-04T17:22:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T07:22:00","slug":"why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Try to Unblock Drains Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they&#8217;re recurring they can turn out to be very expensive. A lot of people are convinced that a trip to the hardware store and a few DIY tips prepare them to unclog things themselves. But did you know that, in many cases, trying to unblock drains yourself can cause more damage to your pipes?<\/p>\n<p>This article explains what kind of pipe repairs you can easily and safely DIY and when you should call in the experts.<\/p>\n<h2>CLOGGED SINKS VS CLOGGED PIPES<\/h2>\n<p>While there are usually some dead giveaways when it comes to whether you have a localised problem on your hands such as water draining slowly from a single basin it can sometimes be less obvious that a problem runs deeper.<\/p>\n<p>The signs that you have a seriously blocked pipe are usually:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Water pooling around and\/or draining slowly from more than one drain<\/li>\n<li>Bubbling\/gurgling drains, plug holes or toilets<\/li>\n<li>Waste rising from drains<\/li>\n<li>Strong, persistent foul odours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of these signs, particularly if they are persistent, point to a blocked sewer pipe and you should not try to problem solve this yourself.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, if your sink, tub or basin is simply draining slowly or is backed up, it&#8217;s likely that either the plug hole is congested, or the u-bend (trap) is blocked with debris of various kinds. These can be relatively straightforward to unclog, with some precautions.<\/p>\n<h2>SAFE DIY HACKS FOR UNCLOGGING DRAINS<\/h2>\n<p>Ideally, any method you use to unclog a plug or u-bend (trap) should pull debris <em>out, <\/em>rather than flush it further into the pipes.<\/p>\n<p>We strongly caution against using:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>caustic chemicals these are not only unsafe to handle, use and store, but they can cause damage to your pipes<\/li>\n<li>boiling water this can cause fat, soap and other debris to settle further along the pipe<\/li>\n<li>DIY with plumbing equipment such as &#8216;eels&#8217; or &#8216;snakes&#8217; which can cause pipe breakages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What we recommend:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the old-fashioned rubber glove and bucket method of removing debris from your blocked drain or toilet<\/li>\n<li>draining and cleaning the trap under a blocked sink<\/li>\n<li>taking care not to cause blockages by not putting anything down drains\/toilets that does not belong there (we all know what these things are).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>THE DANGERS OF DIY PLUMBING TOOLS<\/h2>\n<p>A plumbing tool in the hands of a qualified plumber is a good thing, but in the hands of an untrained handyman, it can be risky business.<\/p>\n<p>Tools that are inserted into pipes to clear out debris need to be handled with extreme caution in case they make things a lot worse. Anything that goes into the pipe system with the aim to clear blockages can cause pipe corrosion, gouging and even breakages. <a href=\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/the-price-of-not-relining-damaged-pipes\/\" rel=\" noopener\">Repeated use of these tools can make pipes impossible to repair<\/a>, resulting in the (very expensive, messy and disruptive) need to dig up pipes and replace them.<\/p>\n<p>In some regions, it&#8217;s also illegal to carry out pipe clearing work without a license and can result in hefty fines. Most home insurance policies won&#8217;t cover damage as a result of work carried out unlicensed either. It isn&#8217;t worth taking the risk.<\/p>\n<h2>WHEN TO CALL IN A PIPE CLEARING EXPERT<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re experiencing recurring problems with clogged sinks, toilets, shower drains particularly (as listed above) with more than one area affected at a time, you need a pipe specialist to come in and identify the issue. The longer you leave it, the worse things will get.<\/p>\n<p>A trained and licensed Nuflow technician has the equipment to quickly and precisely identify the source of your problem. We provide you with CCTV footage and a report, as well as a fixed price quote to clear and clean the problem, and recommendations for any pipe repairs needed.<\/p>\n<p>If you suspect that your clogged drain is too much to handle yourself, call 1800 870 207 (Australia), 09 887 1201 (New Zealand) or <a href=\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visit our contact page<\/a> to book a no obligation quote for pipe clearing and cleaning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they&#8217;re recurring they can turn out to be very expensive. A lot of people are convinced that a trip to the hardware store and a few DIY tips prepare them to unclog things themselves. But did you know that, in many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1,13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why You Shouldn&#039;t Try to Unblock Drains Yourself | Nuflow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they&#039;re recurring they can turn out to be very expensive.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why You Shouldn&#039;t Try to Unblock Drains Yourself | Nuflow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they&#039;re recurring they can turn out to be very expensive.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nuflow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DIYblogNuflow.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"558\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nuflowtechadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TML.Web\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nuflowtechadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"nuflowtechadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/person\/3c3f29ad856d195c84f404216f13fb84\"},\"headline\":\"Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Try to Unblock Drains Yourself\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/\"},\"wordCount\":676,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Residential\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/\",\"name\":\"Why You Shouldn't Try to Unblock Drains Yourself | Nuflow\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they're recurring they can turn out to be very expensive.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Try to Unblock Drains Yourself\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/\",\"name\":\"Nuflow\",\"description\":\"Pipe Relining &amp; Permanent Repair Solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Nuflow\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Nuflow-Logo-Pos-RGB.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Nuflow-Logo-Pos-RGB.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":288,\"caption\":\"Nuflow\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/person\/3c3f29ad856d195c84f404216f13fb84\",\"name\":\"nuflowtechadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d2c38768aa01298f01df451354ffd21?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d2c38768aa01298f01df451354ffd21?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"nuflowtechadmin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TML.Web\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why You Shouldn't Try to Unblock Drains Yourself | Nuflow","description":"Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they're recurring they can turn out to be very expensive.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why You Shouldn't Try to Unblock Drains Yourself | Nuflow","og_description":"Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they're recurring they can turn out to be very expensive.","og_url":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/","og_site_name":"Nuflow","article_published_time":"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":558,"url":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DIYblogNuflow.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"nuflowtechadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TML.Web","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"nuflowtechadmin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/"},"author":{"name":"nuflowtechadmin","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/person\/3c3f29ad856d195c84f404216f13fb84"},"headline":"Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Try to Unblock Drains Yourself","datePublished":"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/"},"wordCount":676,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Articles","Residential"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/","url":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/","name":"Why You Shouldn't Try to Unblock Drains Yourself | Nuflow","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-04T07:22:00+00:00","description":"Blocked drains are a hassle at best and a disaster at worst, and when they're recurring they can turn out to be very expensive.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-unblock-your-drains-yourself\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Try to Unblock Drains Yourself"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/","name":"Nuflow","description":"Pipe Relining &amp; Permanent Repair Solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#organization","name":"Nuflow","url":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Nuflow-Logo-Pos-RGB.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Nuflow-Logo-Pos-RGB.png","width":1200,"height":288,"caption":"Nuflow"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/person\/3c3f29ad856d195c84f404216f13fb84","name":"nuflowtechadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d2c38768aa01298f01df451354ffd21?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d2c38768aa01298f01df451354ffd21?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"nuflowtechadmin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/TML.Web"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuflow.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}