Want Reliable Drain Cleaning in Orange County CA?
Part of being a homeowner is providing maintenance for your house. From the roof at the top, all the way down to your draining systems. Today we’ll discuss drains and stoppages, and the options available to you when needing to resolve these issues as a homeowner. Before you continue reading, I’d like to remind you that if your problem is related to a toilet to first try and use your plunger and see if that fixes your problem. My goal is to try and save you as much money as possible.
First off, we’ll talk about ‘snaking’. Snaking is a service professionals provide, and it entails the use of a plumber’s snake (a coiled metal cable to which you can attach different cleaning heads to). There are different sized snakes: small, medium, and large. The smaller snakes are used for clogs that occur in sinks or tubs, for instance. Medium and larger snakes pack more power; as such, they are use in bigger sewer pipes such as the kitchen drain and sewer main in your home, respectively. The way these machines work is by rotating inside your sewer lines and breaking apart the sludge clogging the pipe and scraping off debris sticking to the inside walls of the pipes. What this does is disrupt the structure of the sludge in such a way that it allows the snake to remove it and creates access for water and waste to flow through.
Snaking services are on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to pricing, depending on how extensive the clog is. Often times you’ll find that with an experienced and reputable plumber, snaking will be lighter on your wallet and a lot of times it will resolve the issue.
However, there are, as with all things, some downsides to this service. The first one is that it does not 100% clear the lines. This is because the shape of the snake does not allow it to get every last bit of sludge and waste found on the inside walls of your sewer pipes. The other is that, depending on what you send down the drain (such as grease), and how often you do this, you might need to have your sewer pipes snaked sooner than you might have expected. Other than that, though, snaking a perfectly fine method of clearing clogs found in your sewer lines that, when done right, should provide lasting results.
Hydro-jetting involves the use of a high pressure hose with a special nozzle to force water through its openings to clear blockages or accumulation. It is a more advanced approach to drain cleaning than that of the plumber’s snake. The nozzle has several openings that all work together to clear the inside walls of the drain line to assure all sludge and roots are removed from your drains. The result is a super clean pipe that is clear of virtually all obstructions. The hose can be of up to several hundred feet in length so reaching the end of your draining system where it connects to the city’s is never a problem. The result is a super clean pipe that is clear of virtually all obstructions.
Jetters come in different sizes from small jetters that are used in kitchen and bathroom drains to the larger jetters that are used to clear out roots and other larger clogs inside your sewer main.
Jetting services are on the higher end of the spectrum when it comes to pricing. This is due to both the jetter being a more advanced machine and the level of clearance of blockages the machine provides. As a homeowner, you should not dismiss this service due to the higher pricing. In the long run, jetting services can prove more beneficial than snaking your sewer pipes. Moreover, if your plumber charges hourly rates, jetting may actually be a better deal due to its efficiency, which could mean substantial savings for you.
One last thing I’d like to mention before ending this post is that some plumbers may provide a sewer camera inspections of your sewer pipes when snaking or jetting the lines to provide reassurance to you that the obstruction inside your drains is gone. If you feel the need to see how much clearance the service you had done to your draining system actually provided, you can always ask the plumber to perform a camera inspection for you. Some plumbers will charge an additional fee for this service, but others may be so generous as to bundle it with the snaking or hydro-jetting and give you quite the deal.
