Drain Cleaning Service in Wyckoff
Since 1927, Pratt Services has been proudly and enthusiastically serving our fellow neighbors in Wyckoff. With a legacy spanning almost a century, our locally based and locally owned business has earned an impeccable reputation as the region’s most reliable and trustworthy drain cleaning company. You can be confident in the quality of our work, as we are fully insured, licensed, and bonded. Our team is made up of experienced, diligent, and honest individuals who are eager to surpass our customers’ expectations. It brings us great joy to assist you, whether you find yourself in need of emergency, commercial, or residential drain cleaning. Reach out to Pratt Services today, and let us have the privilege of adding you to our growing list of loyal and contented customers!
Drain Cleaning Tips and Facts
What are the different types of drain clogs?
Hard Plugs
A hard clog is the result of an obstruction caused by debris or an object within the pipe. These blockages commonly occur when tree roots invade the plumbing, mineral buildup restricts the pipe, or a foreign item (like a toy, rock, or similar) is flushed down. Addressing hard plugs requires the expertise of a trained plumber, as attempting removal on your own can lead to significant damage and costly repairs. Upon reaching out to Pratt Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, we conduct a meticulous pipe inspection, identify the source and location of the blockage, and utilize advanced plumbing techniques such as hydro jetting to eliminate the hard plug, restoring proper plumbing functionality.
Soft Plugs
A soft plug typically develops gradually and is often the result of materials like tissue paper, grease, or baby wipe accumulation. Our licensed plumbers frequently encounter situations where soft plugs become lodged on pipe imperfections or within bends. Over time, this accumulated material obstructs the pipeline, creating a barrier to water flow. While plumbing snakes can temporarily alleviate the issue by creating a hole in the plug, the material often reseals itself, reoccurring as the same problem. The most effective method for clearing a soft plug is through hydro jetting.
What are the most common sources of drain clogs?
The severity of drain clogs can vary significantly, and the worst ones can leave you dealing with a complicated repair, backups, corrosion, and other frustrating problems.
Cotton Swabs do not disintegrate, so they are prone to causing severe clogs and backups in household fixtures.
Toys might find their way into toilets and, eventually, into pipes. After being flushed by young children, foreign things like these have a tendency to damage or obstruct plumbing.
Dental Floss, Hair, and Other Stringy Things can knot up, clump together, stick inside pipes and drains, team up with soap scum and grease, and create nasty clogs. To avoid a clog like this, pay close attention to shower drain maintenance, use a drain guard, and place hair into a garbage can.
Wipes and Cosmetic Towelettes are known to become entangled in pipe flaws or bends. Even “flushable” wipes have been proven to collect and cause plumbing obstructions.
Fruit and Vegetable Rinds or Peels can lead to issues ranging from jammed garbage disposal blades to significant damage to disposals, drains, and pipes.
Fibrous Foods Like Pasta, Rices, and Other Starches are known to become very sticky, expand, and adhere to other substances and food particles to create clogs in plumbing.
Feminine Products are not designed or intended to degrade in your plumbing. Rather, they grow larger and collect, eventually clogging the pipes.
Fats, Grease, and Oils cool and solidify within pipes, resulting in significant, tough clogs.
Cat Litter is not to be flushed down the toilet, even if the packaging suggests that the formula is “flushable.” Cat feces can cause a variety of problems that are harmful to human health, and the litter can cause clogs and other issues with your plumbing. If you have a septic system, cat excrement can disrupt the beneficial bacteria that makes your system work, leading to significant, compounding problems. Animal feces can be dangerous if your water is treated at a facility since wastewater treatment plants are designed to process human waste, not animal waste and the particular microorganisms it contains.
Eggshells possess a distinctive property – when they enter your drain, garbage disposal, or pipes, they create exceptionally small granules that adhere to sludge within the pipes, resulting in the formation of tenacious clog.
What are the signs of a clogged drain?
You may need help from our drain cleaning service near you if you notice:
Overflowing or clogged toilet(s)
Water rising from drains after toilet is flushed
Air bubbles or gurgling noises
Pests in pipes
Standing water
Sewage in your sewer cleanout
Slow draining sink(s)
Odors of mustiness or sewage
Rising water bills (due to inefficiency)
Clogs that don’t easily clear with a plunger
Water backing up in plumbing fixtures (sink, tub, etc.)
If clean drains do not fix your plumbing problem, your plumber might propose drain line repair or drain line replacement. Our experienced Wyckoff drain cleaning company is available to assist you with any plumbing service you may require. Clogs typically become more severe, more difficult to clear, and more involved with time, so call Pratt Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning as soon as you see any of these warning signs.
How can homeowners prevent clogged drains?
Rinse kitchen drains regularly with hot water.
Adopt the practice of running hot water each time you finish using your kitchen sink, which will prevent clogs by pushing soap, tiny bits of food, and other substances down the drain. If you experience regular clogs, pouring very hot water down your drain once a week will help keep buildup to a minimum.
Don’t use harsh chemicals.
Chemical drain cleaners are notoriously acidic. In certain scenarios, they may appear to be effective, but the corrosion they can cause is hiding deep within your pipes. When you use harsh drain cleaners on a regular basis, corrosion buildup can lead to obstructions. If your drain is clogged, simply contact Pratt Services for drain cleaning in Wyckoff.
When selecting household cleaners, consider opting for more natural choices. Cleaning chemicals have the potential to inflict significant damage on your plumbing and can also pose health hazards. Baking soda and vinegar, with their surprising effectiveness and versatility, make smart choices for cleaning your home. There is also an abundance of effective and safe cleaning products available on the market, so it’s a good idea to explore these options.
Keep grease far from your sink.
Grease and cooking oils are the enemy of plumbing. When oils and grease cool, they harden and tend to attach to solids, forming difficult, difficult blockages. Rather than throwing these substances down the drain, collect them in a glass jar or can and place them in your garbage can.
Harness the power of simple, affordable kitchen staples – vinegar and baking soda.
Baking soda is an excellent way to clean kitchen sinks and drains due to its odor-absorbing, cleansing, and refreshing capabilities. Make it a practice to pour baking soda down the drain and rinse with hot water on a regular basis. Vinegar contains acetic acid, a natural solvent that organically deodorizes, cleans, and clears food particle buildup in your pipes. Pour one cup of vinegar down the drain once a week, let it soak for 30 minutes, and then rinse with hot water. Using this easy procedure, you can easily and economically maintain clean, fresh drains.
Mix one cup of baking soda with two cups of vinegar, pour the combination down your drain, and watch as these powerful ingredients join forces to deodorize and cleanse the drain. Let the mixture fizz for approximately 15 minutes before giving the drain a thorough rinse with hot water.
Use a mesh drain strainer.
Mesh strainers are an inexpensive and simple way to capture food particles and other materials. Simply settle it into place and empty it on a regular basis to remove the trapped particles.
Know how to properly use your garbage disposal.
Despite their potentially misleading name, garbage disposals are nothing like garbage cans. Garbage disposals are easily clogged, resulting in costly and messy issues. Garbage disposals are convenient, but it’s important to know what you can and can’t put into them.
Avoid letting of any of the following foods, items, or substances enter your disposal:
Rice
Eggshells
Meat
Fibrous Vegetable or Fruit Peels
Coffee Grounds
Paint
Bones
Paper Products
Pasta
Chemicals
During garbage disposal use and for around one minute after, turn on your cold water tap. This will help with the grinding process, prevent unwanted odors, and give food particles a chance to adequately flush through your plumbing.
Don’t put food scraps down your kitchen drain.
Preventing clogs begins with controlling what enters your drain. Prior to rinsing your dishes, establish a routine of scraping food remnants into your trash can
What is hydro jetting?
During hydro jetting, a unique hose is used to force high-pressure water through a plumbing system. The first stage in this non-invasive technique is to analyze the line with a camera to identify any damage that would stop us from employing hydro-jetting to clear the clog. We’ll start working on your hydro jetting after we insert the hose and connect it to a specialized water tank, as long as we confirm the absence of damage. Careful consideration is given to selecting the optimal location before inserting the hose and beginning the process.
Highly pressurized water, assisted by our exceptionally sturdy hose and gravity, will commence the process by forcefully propelling water at a rate of approximately 20 gallons per minute through rearward-facing jets and a forward-facing jet for extra debris clearance, propelling the nozzle through the pipes. Hydro jetting effectively eliminates clogs and rids your system of potential troublemakers like grease, mineral scale, tree roots, and other debris. If confronted with a stubborn, deep-seated clog, your reliable plumbing company is likely to recommend this method.
What are the different types of hydro jetting heads?
Plumbers employ a variety of hydro jetting head types, each designed to serve a specific purpose. Your drain cleaning contractor will carefully determine the appropriate heads to use for your hydro jetting service, considering the severity and characteristics of the debris and clogs identified during our inspection.
Grease Heads, as their name suggests, are designed with the specific purpose of eliminating grease buildup. They feature a rotating nozzle that sprays water at a right angle to the head, effectively scrubbing away stubborn, adhered oil deposits from the pipeline. Since their cleaning action is limited to the pipe walls and does not address clogs before or after the head, it is a common practice to use another cleaning head in sequence to achieve the best results.
Warthog Heads represent the pinnacle of packing a powerful punch against tough clogs. These sizable and robust heads spin at high speeds to conquer even the most stubborn blockages. While this exceptional tool is highly effective, improper use can potentially harm your plumbing. When you select our drain cleaning service near you, we’ll leave you feeling confident that we can handle your hydro jetting service with the utmost care and expertise.
Ice Heads are designed to combat ice blockages by forcefully breaking through ice dams. These pointed heads are an effective solution for dealing with frozen lines, utilizing forward- and backward-facing jets, a sharp point, and hot water to efficiently clear and melt ice.
Penetrator Heads rely on an aggressive technique, combining rear-facing jets with a powerful forward jet. The forward jet powers through soft plugs, piercing a hole in them. When the head is pushed out of the pipe, the blockage follows. These heads are excellent for clearing jams in both directions.
The Leader is a flexible nozzle that our pros use to handle difficult-to-reach, awkward areas, like P-traps, vertical drops, corners, or pipe bends. The line follows the head as it passes through these locations and through the pipes.
To schedule drain cleaning or learn more about our extensive service offering, contact Pratt Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning today at (201) 666-8400.