The main plumbing question that people ask a lot is if drain cleaners work and the simple answer is definately no. Most plumbers will agree that the little can of drain cleaner that costs $10 is not only a waste of money but it does a lot of damage to your plumbing system. First misconception is to dump the drain cleaner down your bathroom sinks or tubs to remove hair this will not dissolve the hair most drain cleaners will only dissolve soap build up and hard water build up but hair needs to be removed by a professional drain cleaning equipment called a snake.
Another problem is dumping drain cleaner down the kitchen sink. This is the worst problem for a plumber because not only does it not work, it tends to turn the grease hard like a rock making it harder to clean with a snake. Then we have toilets not flushing so most customers go to their Orlando hardware store and buy drain cleaner. This also does not work because most of the time there is a foreign object in the line such as roots or a toy. Drain cleaners will not work for this type of problem. You will need to call a plumber to remove such objects with a sewer machine. If you decide to use drain cleaners before you call your Orlando plumber which we do not suggest, please let him know that you used these products. They are toxic and the plumber will need to protect himself and his equipment from being damaged. Also never mix different types of drain cleaning chemicals. The picture below shows how dangerous these products are:
The only time drain cleaners work are for urinals or mineral build up. These products are only sold in plumbing supply warehouses and are very dangerous and should only be used by a plumbing professional. These products work by dissolving the build up caused by urine, but they should also be done in conjunction with Manuel drain cleaning.
Drain cleaning products also do more harm than good to your plumbing pipes especially in older homes. Newer homes have PVC which the drain cleaners do not affect but older homes have cast iron or copper drain lines and these chemicals can do severe damage by wearing holes in the pipe and creating leaks in your drainage system and in Florida this is bad because we do not have basements. So in order to repair the pipe you need to cut open your floor and that’s a lot of damage from a $10 bottle of cleaner. Is it really worth to use a drain cleaner to save maybe a couple hundred dollars? The answer is no because it’s a smarter and safer decision to have the plumber fix it right.
If you have any drain cleaning questions call Drain Genie Plumbing at 407-710-0210.
We also serve Orlando, Casselberry, Lake Mary, Longwood, Apopka, Deltona, Winter Park, Oviedo, Sanford, Winter Springs, Altamonte Springs, Maitland and all of Florida.