Everyone would love to have a magical household tool capable of solving any dilemma. Sort of like a Swiss Army Knife of home tools. People often treat duct tape as this type of cure-all (although, bizarrely, it doesn’t work on ducts). When it comes to plumbing, the drain snake, a.k.a. the drain auger, is elevated to the same lofty position of the Answer to All Drain Troubles.
The One Drain Unclogger to Rule Them All!
The Once and Future Drain Opener!
None of this is true, of course. No matter how much people wish it were.
Don’t Get Us Wrong: Drain Snakes Are Extremely Useful!
A hand-cranked drain snake may not be Excalibur, but you can get some excellent use out of one for solving basic drain stoppages and slow drains. The standard drain snake you can purchase at commercial stores or online retailers is often better at getting out tangled hair clogs than a sink or toilet plunger. (Although we also recommend you have these tools handy.) A drain snake is simple to use: send the coil down into the drain opening, rotate it, and then pull out the obstruction or open a passage for the water.
We strongly recommend using a drain snake rather than pouring acidic chemical “drain cleaner” down the drain. These chemicals are toxic, can damage the drainpipe, and don’t work as well or as fast as a drain snake.
Where the Drain Snake Comes Up Short
The drain snake isn’t a powerful tool. It can take care of a basic clog, but won’t do much good against thicker ones. A drain snake doesn’t really “clean” a drain either. Often when you use this tool, you’ll only break apart enough of the clog to allow water to flow again, leaving most of the debris behind. It won’t take long for the clog to form again. For problems like this, you need something more powerful.
What do you do when you need drain cleaning in Covington, KY, and the drain snake won’t make any headway? The “more powerful” tool to get is a professional plumber. A plumber trained and equipped for drain cleaning services can get rid of any clog and clean out the drain to remove all trace of it. The drain is opened—and it will stay open for a long time to come.
Professionals also use drain snakes, but motorized types that can drill through the toughest clogs. These devices are expensive to purchase and require training to handle safely; please leave the work to the expert plumber.
The most powerful tool a plumber uses to clean drains is the hydro-jet. This device uses high-pressure water blasts to scour the inside of pipes. This results in a fully clean drain, without any damage. Hydro-jetters can be used for large jobs, like cleaning out a sewer line.
Our plumbers have the finest tools for cleaning drains and solving plumbing problems of all kind. We offer 24-hour emergency service!