Any kind of household emergency is best avoided whenever possible. Plumbing emergencies are high on the list of home problems you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy! But sometimes the person causing your plumbing emergency is not an enemy at all. Sometimes, it’s your own child. Make sure that doesn’t happen! We’ll help.
How Plumbing Troubles Begin
Much of the time, what seemed like a sudden disaster was months in the making. Plumbing problems are often caused by gradual buildup over long periods of time, which only turn into a catastrophically backed-up drain when one final bit of stuff blocks the plumbing completely.
In the kitchen, the buildup does contain some food, certainly. And that final piece which deals the killing blow to your sink’s ability to drain could be some foreign object. (It could, in fact, be a literal final straw, because drinking straws slip easily down sinks and get caught in drains.) But mostly, the issue is FOG.
What plumbers refer to as FOG is Fat, Oil, and Grease. While it may pour down the drain when you’re washing with hot water, it can congeal into a solid substance like shortening or lard once it cools down. It holds the food particles, drinking straws, plastic cutlery, tiny doll shoes, or whatever else firmly in place. And it blocks the drain.
In the bathroom, buildup is likely to include hair and soap scum. Unlike the other substances that wash off your body, like dirt and skin cells, hair does not break down, and will simply get lodged in the plumbing. And soap scum can help to cement that hair together into a firm clump.
Toilet troubles, though, can easily be caused by a child in a matter of seconds, if that child has a rubber duck in one hand and the flush handle in the other. Or a clogged or overflowing toilet can be caused by excessive enjoyment of toilet paper.
How to Address Plumbing Troubles
When you’ve got time, and you’ve only got a single drain clog in a place that’s not absolutely critical to the function of your home, you can try to remedy the situation yourself. Plungers (small, clean ones for sinks, please, not the dirty one from the toilet!) and drain snakes can help with the immediate problem, though you may need whole-house drain cleaning to get to the real root of the issue.
But sometimes you don’t have time! It might be the only toilet in your home that is clogged. You might have had to shut off water to your home to stop a toilet or other fixture from overflowing. In this case, don’t delay. You need emergency plumbing in Des Plaines, IL before the situation gets any worse.
Preventing Kid-Caused Plumbing Chaos
In the kitchen, teach your kids to wipe dishes with paper towels first, before washing them in the sink or dishwasher. That way, the FOG and particles end up in the trash. You should also put a mesh drain cover in your kitchen sink to catch any of those small items before they go down the drain.
In the bathroom, mesh drain covers will catch the hair, and you can encourage kids to clean them out after showering. Soap scum can be a challenging issue, and aside from making sure your kids don’t use too much soap, you may need to consider a water-softening solution, as hard water worsens soap scum issues. And to keep the duck safe from flushing, consider a child-proof toilet latch.
For expert plumbing service, installations, or maintenance, contact Reliance Plumbing Sewer & Drainage, Inc. Our knowledgeable plumbers serve the North Shore and Northwest Chicago suburbs. Rely on Reliance!