Plumbing is something that almost everyone will need to have done in their lifetime. The thought that your drains and pipes were randomly blessed by Saint Barnabas and are going to hold their seals forever is foolhardy. Even if they were going to be perfect forever you’re probably going to wash/flush things down them that end up in clogs. Plumbing and cleaning your drains are simply useful.
DIY Plumbing
Do it yourself plumbing can be fulfilling and save you a lot of money. It’s also good for your eyes as you can avoid dreaded “plumber’s crack” situations. Learning your own plumbing requires a willingness to get into it the name of a good plumber in case you make some horrible mistakes. But you shouldn’t make those mistakes. There are all kinds of resources available to help you.
- Online Guides - There is an online guide for almost any plumbing situation at this point. If there isn’t, there is likely to be online forums that will allow you to partake of a discussion and have your questions asked by other enthusiasts or sometimes by professionals who wish to help out.
- Online Videos - In addition to all of the online guides out there, you can find a video of almost any type of DIY plumbing project. Through youtube or other video upload websites you can watch and see exactly how something is supposed to be done. Then you can pause as you attempt it yourself. It’s generally a good idea to watch the entire video once before taking the step by step method. Sometimes there’s a step that will need to be done immediately thereafter the first. It’s good to know when those situations may be coming up.
- Hardware Store Demos - Hardware superstores offer up a lot of demos and classes to help teach novices how to do repairs. Plumbing is one of the more popular classes. It makes sense for the stores since they are developing customer gratitude and the need for new tools to be purchased. Take advantage of these hands on lessons before your own plumbing needs work.
Drain Cleaning
Drain cleaning is a specific subset of plumbing. Often you just can’t find exactly where the clog is when you have water backing up into your system. There are different ways to go about drain cleaning. When you are looking to clean your drains you have a few options.
- Heavy Drain Cleaners - These are the heavy liquids that you pour down your drains as they promise to dissolve whatever is in there. Sometimes they can work. This especially works for clogs when you the substance you are pouring down will properly interact chemically with whatever is clogging your drain.
- “Snaking” - Snakes are long rotating metal lines that will bend through your drains. The idea is they will push through any clogs, and then once they begin rotating and spinning they should clear out the remainder of the clog. Snaking is one of the most common drain cleaning options.
It’s important to note that if you are snaking a sewer line in some areas, you need to run a camera through or request a sewer safety inspection. There are many regions where gas lines were installed after the sewer lines. These gas lines were put in through “torpedo” drilling where the lines are shot semi blind through the ground. Sometimes these gas lines can go through a sewer line. While this has no real issue in day to day life, if you are snaking on a gas line it could cause a rupture and a gas leak. In those regions you run a camera through first to ensure there are no gas lines intersecting and if there is one, you contact your local gas company about it.
