When Should You Call an Emergency Drain Cleaning Service? How to Tell

Every home gets clogs. Hair in the shower, grease in the kitchen sink and too much paper in the toilet are part of life. Most can be handled with a plunger and a little patience. The question is when a clog stops being a chore and becomes a job for an emergency drain cleaning service. The answer comes down to three things: how many drains are affected, what is coming back up and whether you can stop using water until it is fixed.

One drain or many?

This is the most useful question you can ask. Every fixture in your home has its own short drain line, and those lines join into larger pipes and finally into the main sewer line that leaves the house.

• One slow drain usually means a clog close to that fixture, in the trap or the first few feet of pipe.
• Two fixtures in the same bathroom slowing together, like a tub and a sink, point to a clog in the branch line they share.
• Drains slowing all over the house, especially on the lowest floor, point to the main line.

A single slow sink can wait for a convenient time. A main line problem is the one that turns into sewage on the floor.

Call for emergency drain cleaning when

• Water or sewage is coming back up through a floor drain, a shower or a downstairs toilet.
• Toilets gurgle or bubble when a sink drains or the washing machine empties.
• Flushing a toilet makes water rise in the tub or shower next to it.
• The only toilet in the house is blocked and a plunger will not clear it.
• The kitchen sink is completely stopped before a holiday meal or with a full house.
• There is a sewage smell near drains or in the yard over the sewer line.
• A cleanout cap outside is leaking or has water standing in it.

Any of these means water cannot leave the house the way it should. Our emergency drain cleaning service clears the line the same day and finds out why it blocked.

What you can safely try first

For a single fixture, a few minutes of effort often does the job:

1. Plunge properly. Use a flange plunger for toilets and a cup plunger for sinks and tubs. For a double kitchen sink, block the second drain with a wet cloth so the pressure goes toward the clog.
2. Clean the stopper. Bathroom sink pop-ups and tub stoppers collect hair. Pull them out and clean them.
3. Use a hand auger for a stubborn sink or tub clog if you have one and are comfortable with it.
4. Check the strainer. Kitchen and tub strainers can hide a mat of debris just below the surface.

If the water still will not go down after that, stop. More force tends to push a clog deeper or crack an old fitting.

What not to do

• Do not keep flushing a toilet that is not draining. Each flush adds more water to the bowl.
• Do not pour chemical drain cleaner into a fully stopped drain. If it does not work, it sits in the pipe, and anyone working on the drain has to deal with it. It can also damage older pipes and finishes.
• Do not pour boiling water into a porcelain toilet. Sudden heat can crack it.
• Do not run the dishwasher or washer while any drain is backing up.

What causes clogs that need a professional

When we clear a line, we want to know why it blocked, because that decides whether it will happen again. The usual causes are:

• Grease and food waste that coat kitchen lines a little more with every meal
• Wipes and paper towels that do not break down like toilet paper, including many labeled flushable
• Tree roots that work into older sewer joints, common under established streets with big trees
• Sagging or broken pipe that traps waste in a low spot
• Hair and soap in bathroom lines that build up over months

If roots or a damaged pipe are behind the clog, clearing the line is only a short-term fix. Our sewer line repair service deals with the pipe itself, and our guide to sewer line backup warning signs explains what to watch for next.

Is it ever fine to wait until morning?

Yes, sometimes. If only one fixture is affected, you have another bathroom you can use and nothing is backing up, waiting for business hours is reasonable. Close the door, put a sign on the toilet and call in the morning.

If the clog affects the whole house, you have no working toilet or anything dirty is coming up a drain, call now. A main line backup only gets worse as people in the house use water without thinking.

Keeping drains clear

• Let cooking grease cool, scrape it into the trash and wipe pans before washing.
• Use strainers in kitchen sinks and hair catchers in showers.
• Flush only toilet paper.
• Run plenty of water after using a garbage disposal.
• Call when several drains start slowing together, before they stop.

The public sewer system in urban Washington County is run by Clean Water Services, which also asks residents to keep grease and wipes out of drains. What you keep out of your pipes protects your home and the system downstream.

If your drains are backing up right now, stop using water and call us. We answer 24 hours a day and come out the same day.