Blocked drains can be a real emergency especially if your whole house gets blocked up and you cant use the toilet or shower so here's 5 things you can do right now to prevent a blocked drain. Did you know that some household blockages can actually be prevented and there things you can do your self to stop it happening?
Keep toilet paper to a minimum - This may seem a little odd, especially as toilets are designed to be used with toilet paper. However, using too much toilet paper can cause your drain or toilet to block. So how much is too much? Well thats a tricky one. Different toilets have different flow rates and outlet sizes so there is no none rule fits all here. However if you flush the toilet and the water level rises a significant amount before draining, its a good sign you have overloaded the toilet.
Use stick on fresheners instead of the cage types - While cage type toilet fresheners are common, it is also common for them to get accidentally flushed down into the drain where they get stuck. Fortunately there are new stick on types that can be used that stick directly onto the side of the bowl. Not only these pose no threat at all to your drains, they are actually more hiegenic as there is nowhere for the germs to hide.
Put food scraps and oil in the bin - This should be an obvious one but we are all guilty of trying to push those few pesky food scraps through the drain grate after we have finished washing the dishes. While its definitely not as pleasant to remove them by hand and place them in the bin, it does save your drains from food build up which may eventually cause a blockage
Clean your shower drain - Hair has to be the most common reason we see for shower drains to block up. You have you someone in the house who brushes their hair in the shower or it may even be you. You can rest assured that some of that hair is getting stuck and over time will cause your drain to block. Most showers these days can be cleaned by hand by removing the grate and this should be done often enough to keep the drain cleared.
Keep kids away from outside drains - Kids love to explore and experiment, and the drain connection pipe in your rear yard can be an attractive object to experiment. “Lets see how many toys we can get inside that drain” If you have a child that would love to play this game, it could be time for a chat or better yet find a new play area. Toys may be fun to put in the drain but they are not fun or easy to get out.
