For new and old homeowners alike, sometimes a drain clog can seem confusing. You didn’t necessarily put anything solid or rough down your drain, so how could it be clogging all of a sudden? Your pipes are in good shape and the last home inspection you had specifically mentioned that your home’s plumbing was in good condition. So … what gives?
Well, first of all, a home inspection or just a quick run-through of your pipes can’t see what’s inside of them. This is why an inspection can be misleading, since a drain system can be majorly clogged without it ever showing up except when you try to use the drain for an extended period of time. But the truth is that you might have accidentally clogged up your drain with materials that otherwise feel fine to flush. In this case, you might need drain cleaning in West Orange, NJ.
Let’s Talk About FOG
One of the most insidious causes of drain clogs in our area is FOG. FOG stands for fats, oils, and grease, and it’s a material that can look like a liquid that gets flushed down the drain, only to be a problem later on.
You see, fats solidify at a different temperature than water. This means that the cold interior of your pipes can be the perfect environment for that bacon grease or butter to solidify and sit in your drain unable to move.
The Problems With FOG
Eventually, other food scraps will get caught up in the solidified FOG material and cause a clog. These kinds of clogs form easily because the FOG acts like a glue that keeps it all stuck to the wall of your drain and in there for an extended period of time. A clog can exponentially grow since it makes it harder for contaminants to wash away, and thus you’ve got a truly bad clog on your hands.
It Doesn’t Matter If You Don’t See the Problem
One of the biggest hassles with drain problems is that we can’t see them. For all we know, that accidental onion peel that got flushed down the drain and ended up at a water treatment plant or in the garbage. But in truth, it could have gotten stuck in your sewer system and started a cascading drain clog that will make itself known in a few months. And to make matters worse, once we walk away from the sink drain, it can be almost impossible to remember what we just flushed down it!
Well, first of all, we just want to be clear about what to do. Just because you don’t see solid materials go down your drain doesn’t mean that there aren’t drain clogging materials routinely being flushed down it. For instance, if there are other members of your household, especially children, they could be flushing paper towels, toys, and food waste down the drain because it seems like it “disappears.” This is just the cost of living with a full household!
We recommend investing in drain cleaning services every one or two years so you can rest assured that your plumbing system is in good shape.
Do yourself a favor and contact MarGo Plumbing Heating Cooling Inc. We can help!