The Unclog Blog - Thompson Plumbing Heating Cooling

Preventing & Dealing With Ice Dams In Gutters

Before the cool months bring their wrath, it’s a good idea to take care of some things outside your home to prevent any winter damage. Ice dams can cause damage to your home, particularly the roof or gutters.

An ice dam forms when snow on the roof melts due to the heat escaping from the home. The water then runs to the gutter where there is no warmth. The water freezes and often blocks additional water from running off the roof.

In the worst case scenario, a buildup of snow and water can seep into the home, causing water damage.

Luckily, this scenario can be avoided.

While the gut reaction is to heat the roof, you actually want to cool it down, so the snow will stay that way. Make sure the insulation in your attic is enough to keep warm air inside your home. It’s also a good idea to check that attic heating ducts are away from the roof. Seal any holes around light fixtures, chimneys, and fans.

If it’s too late to prevent ice in your gutters, there are some solutions.

Start by clearing the spouts of any debris, so that once the ice does start to melt it has somewhere to go. Carefully use a rake or a broom to get snow off the roof and gutters. However, don’t climb onto an icy roof, and only pull in the same direction as the shingles to prevent damaging them.

You can chip away at a small portion of the ice, however know that the gutter is already under lots of strain. If the weather is warm enough, the ice will melt on it’s own.

If it is an emergency, use warm or hot water to help melt the ice. Be sure the water is warmer than the ice or it will freeze once it touches the ice, causing additional problems.

(Flickr Photo By regcmo) 

Things You Should Never Put Down the Garbage Disposal

Although the garbage disposal in your kitchen sink is a great place to get rid of many different kinds of food waste, there are some things that you should never put down there if you want your system to continue working properly.

Firstly, never put grease down the drain, even with the garbage disposal running. It will eventually solidify and clog the drain.

Never put any kind of vegetable with a stringy or tough peel in the garbage disposal. Examples include asparagus, lettuce, corn husks, artichokes, celery and potato peels. These vegetables’ tough, stringy materials’ can wrap themselves around the blades of your garbage disposal and stop the motor from working.

You also shouldn’t put egg shells down the disposal. Although it has been rumored that egg shells hel

 

p sharpen garbage disposal blades, this is a myth. Why shouldn’t you do it? They are too hard for the blades to break down into small enough pieces to rinse down the drain, and the thin membrane layer attached to the shell can wrap itself around your disposal’s shredder ring and jam it.

Another hard item that shouldn’t be processed in your garbage disposal is animal bones. A disposal simply isn’t designed to be strong enough to break down such tough items. The blades might break them down somewhat, but not into pieces small enough to fit down the drain.

 

Rice and pasta also cannot be broken down small enough to be safe for the garbage disposal. While they’re pretty small to begin with, they swell with water and can gather in the trap and clog it.

Don’t put pits or seeds from fruits and vegetables down the disposal, either – they can’t be broken down and can damage or break your disposal.

Lastly, it may seem like a no-brainer, but you should never put non-food items down the drain. Small items like twist-ties, rubber bands, pull tabs, screws and nails, and cigarette butts need to go in t

 

he trash, not down the garbage disposal. The same goes for small (or large) bits of paper, plastic, glass, metal, string, fabric, sponges, rags, plants or flowers. None of these items will break down well enough to rinse down the drain.

The Unclog Blog is written and published by

Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling

(Flickr Photo By ellenm1)

 

 

How to Remove Hair that’s Clogging Your Shower Drain

If your shower drain is clogged up, chances are: hair is the culprit. Many people turn to chemical drain cleaners to fix their hair-clogged shower drains, but you have other home solutions at your disposal that are cheaper and less-damaging to your pipes than pouring a bunch of chemicals down the drain.

Here’s one: gather a wire coat hanger, a paperclip, a plunger, and some rubber gloves (you’re gonna need the gloves; trust us). Straighten the body of a wire coat hanger and bend the hook so that it fits down the drain. Next, straighten out a paperclip.

Put on the rubber gloves and remove the drain strainer, if you can. Remove any hair from the top of the drain that you can reach with your fingers (bet you’re glad you remembered those gloves!)

If the shower still isn’t draining properly, run the water until about four inches fill up the tub or shower. Use a plunger on the shower drain to try to bring the hair closer to the top of the drain so you can remove it with your fingers.

Next, insert the hanger into the shower drain, hook-end first. Catch and remove any hair in the drain opening by moving it around and pulling it back out.

Do this a second time, this time pushing the hanger down as far as it will go without letting go of it, twisting it in a circular motion, and again pulling it up out of the drain and removing any hair.

Finally, use the paperclip to catch and remove any hair that in the top of the shower drain or strainer that the hanger didn’t catch. Now, the nasty part is over (hopefully).

If your shower is still draining slowly after physically removing all the hair you can get out with a hanger and plunger, pour a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar after two minutes. In another 20 minutes, pour boiling water down the drain.

Try the hanger steps again if you’re still having drainage problems after pouring boiling water down the drain, and if all else fails, call a plumber. 

(Flickr Photo By godber)

How to prevent and fix a frozen drain

The winter months can be particularly hard on your home. If you live in a cold area, a frozen drain could be a pastime of yours. This will cause all sorts of plumbing problems. However, there are ways to prevent it, and if it does happen, there are many ways to fix it before the problem gets out of hand.

Start by insulating any pipes that are located on or near the exterior of your home. You can purchase wrap for your pies and install it easily. If you can’t get to all of the pipes, at least focus on insulating the main water pipes.

Signs your drain has frozen include drainage problems. Your sink or tub won’t drain, because the water inside the pipe has frozen.

First, check to make sure the pipe hasn’t cracked. Water expands when it freezes, which is why frozen pipes often burst. If the pipe hasn’t cracked, there is just a blockage. 

Next, turn off the water source that leads to that pipe. This might be the main water source. Continue by opening all of the faucets that lead to the frozen area. This will release any cool water that’s helping the blockage. 

The next step is to thaw the frozen area. Consider a few ways to do this, such as using a small blow dryer to direct warm air onto the frozen spot, wrapping the pipe with warm towels, propping a space heater near the pipe for an hour, wrapping the pipe with electric heating tape, or if you don’t have plastic piping, running a blowtorch along the frozen area of the pipe. 

You can also pour boiling water down the frozen drain to melt the blockage by using a piece of rubber tube to reach the ice, and pouring hot water from a kettle down the tube. 

Hopefully you can prevent a frozen drain, but use these tips to solve the problem quickly.

(Flickr Photo By Jimmy_Joe)

Things That Should Never Be Flushed

With the creation of “flushable” kitty litter, which is said to be biodegradable, cat owners are flushing the gritty stuff down the toilet without a care. However, even flushable kitty litter isn’t meant for the toilet.

Typical litter is made from clay. Clay plus water makes cement, which will clog your pipes. Okay, so the litter you have isn’t made of clay; regardless, it’s meant to absorb liquid, and that’s no good for a plumbing system.

Another thing about kitty litter, it partners with kitty clumps, and those are not good for the environment. There is a parasite in the clumps that is harmful to marine life, and when flushed, it enters the water system.

Aside from cat litter, certain chemicals and products are labeled not to flush, making this decision easy. However, some items you might be tempted to flush, when they should go in the trashcan.

A few common flushed items include cigarette butts, tissues, sanitary napkins, hair, insects, cotton swabs, and diapers. All of these belong in the garbage, along with the kitty litter.

If you’re looking for ways to make your household go green, consider harmless cleaners, recycling cans and paper, or purchasing local as much as possible. Keep the kitty litter, and other household items, in the trash and out of the toilet. 

(Flickr Photo By Shelli Akers)

What Do You Do with a Flooded Basement?

Oh boy, what a mess! If you’ve ever had a flooded basement, it goes without saying what an unspeakable headache the cleanup is. Beyond the cleaning, the next order of business is to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and that can get very expensive indeed.

Ohioans and Kentuckians likely know a thing or two about flooded basements. We get a lot of rain, and if you’re in an old house, sometimes it just happens. If your basement floods, follow these instructions to make sure your basement is properly cleaned up:

• If the flooding is severe and you don’t have good drainage, you will probably need to buy or rent a sump pump.
• If the water level indoors is higher than it is outdoors, begin pumping water outside. Hopefully this can continue until most of it has been evacuated. Always keep a close eye on the water level outside.
• Sometimes there’s residual mud. If so, shovel this out as soon as possible to facilitate the drying of your floors and walls.
• Once the majority of the mud is out, use a high-pressure hose (if possible) and blast the silt and dirt stains away for a deeper clean.
• Scrub your walls from the top down with a stiff brush and household soap or detergent.
• When you’re done washing, make sure all windows and doors are open for air flow. If you don’t have any shock hazards, run fans to assist with the drying and prevent mold growth.
• Once it’s aired out, run a dehumidifier until the water collection tub isn’t collecting any more water.
• To get rid of odors, mop concrete floors with a bleach solution, rinse and dry after five minutes. Keep your windows open when applying bleach solution.

That  doesn’t sound so bad, does it? To avoid potential plumbing catastrophes or to get your questions answered, contact Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling today.

 

The Original Plumbers

The origins of plumbing and plumbers aren’t well documented. Some ancient civilizations had what could be called drainage and sewer systems, but they by no means resemble the plumbing works of today. In a sense, the Henry Ford or Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison or Orville Wright of plumbing is probably Sir John Harrington. Back in 1596, Harrington conceived and attempted to execute his idea for a water closet, or room with a flushing toilet. He was completely fed up with using a chamber pot and thought he could do something about it. You’d think his contemporaries would be grateful, but in reality he was ridiculed, resulting in his idea never getting off the ground or getting taken seriously.

Bear in mind, Harrington was living in a time of total filth. The English weren’t exactly known for their cleanliness. They didn’t bathe, rarely changed, dumped their chamber pots in the street and covered their odors in perfumes and oils in an attempt to pretend they didn’t exist. More, even though London was a place of unbearable smells and disease and premature death were common, the English believed bathing was itself a dirty practice.

Almost 300 years later, on American soil, James T. Henry and William Campbell were awarded a patent for their water closet. Things have progressed nicely from there, thank goodness. Sir John Harrington would be proud that his idea, some 400 years ago, is now an everyday part of life. Here’s to Sir Harrington, and here’s to the toilet!

Contact Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling today if you have questions about your toilet or anything else plumbing related!

 

Fictional Plumbers

To literally depart from reality for a while (it is nice sometimes), this episode of the Unclog Blog will take some time to recognize some of the most recognizable plumbers who never really existed. That’s right. The plumbers in this week’s episode are figments of the imagination, yet their place in pop-culture should be immediately apparent.

Mario: Do you remember when the Nintendo gaming system came out? Well, Mario put it on the map with the smash-hit game, Super Mario Bros. Since its inception, the Nintendo remains one of the most prominent gaming systems in the world and Mario serves as its mascot to this very day. Originally intended to be a carpenter, Mario’s creators changed plans and decided making him a plumber would be a better fit, since the game involves a lot of subterranean action and no shortage of pipes.

Happy Gilmore: This classic 90s comedy starring Adam Sandler is unforgettable, with Happy Gilmore leading the way as an amateur hockey player cum unlikely golf hero. To make ends meet, Happy is a plumber with all the best intentions, especially when it comes to the care of his aging grandmother. When it’s discovered that Happy has an unusually long drive on the golf course thanks to his slap shot technique, Happy embarks on an adventure to win one of golf’s biggest tournaments for the ultimate payday that will secure his grandmother’s home and financial future. All that stands in his way is his nemesis, Shooter McGavin!

Mike Delfino: For all the ladies out there, Mike Delfino is the plumber for you. Played by James Denton in the critically and commercially successful television series “Desperate Housewives,” Delfino is the friendly neighborhood plumber on a mission: he’s looking for his missing ex-girlfriend. That’s where it starts, anyway. Naturally, things get hot. Look out when Delfino knocks on your door!

Check back to the Unclog Blog each week for practical plumbing tips from the experts at Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling.

 

Dealing with Industrial-Sized Clogs

What do you do when you’re dealing with a clogged drain or sewer line that’s been accruing heavy-duty residue like grease, soap, silt, sand and other debris for years? Conventional methods more than likely won’t work, so you can forget about dumping Drain-O down the drain and for that matter, using a snake. Big league clogs require big league solutions: this is where hydro-jetting comes into play.

Hydro-jetting isn’t something you can do yourself. It requires a machine that acts as the King Kong of drain cleaning mechanisms. A hydro-jet drain cleaning machine is a water powered drain cleaner that the operator inserts into the drain to literally blow the problem away. These machines are capable of pushing out 1500 to 4000 pounds of water pressure, meaning anything that’s blocking the drain will be history, and fast. Not only is a hydro-jet machine the most effective tool for blowing out clogs, it’s also the longest lasting because the powerful stream scours drains clean, leaving them like new.

As a homeowner, you probably won’t need a hydro-jet cleaning machine for your sinks, tubs or toilets, but you may need professional assistance for stubborn clogs. In that case, contact Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling for red carpet service and Green Screened Certified Plumbers. 

 

Poll: What’s the Most Effective Solution for Unclogging Your Drains?

We’ve dedicated a few posts recently to discussing alternative means for unclogging drains. Grocery stores are filled with solutions like Drain-O that many of us turn to when clogs get bad. After all, how many of us keep a snake handy?

There are many ways to unclog a drain. We’re curious to find out more about how our customers solve their minor plumbing predicaments.

We ask you: What’s the most effective solution you’ve used to unclog your drains?

Store-bought chemicals (Drain-O, etc.)

Plunger

Snake

Boiling Water

Vinegar

Cola

Other