There's nothing worse than finding your basement floor drain has clogged and there's water everywhere. You can usually take care of the problem yourself without calling a plumber. Try the following steps to clear that clog.
Instructions
1. Put your gloves on and use your bucket to remove any standing water to access the floor drain. Since the basement floor drain is usually the final stop for all pipes leading out of the house, tell family members not to run any water until the drain is unclogged.
2. Since they are the closest to the street water drains, basement floor drains and pipes are usually the largest drains in the house. They also usually have a clean out access port, which makes using a plumber's snake much easier, since most floor drains also make a sharp bend from vertical to horizontal soon after floor level. Getting the snake to make that bend is not always an easy procedure. Use the crescent wrench to remove the clean out plug.
3. Pull out a few feet of snake. Insert the snake into the drain and pour a little water into the drain, to add a little pressure behind the movement of the snake, and to help wash away any material broken up by the snake. Gently advance the snake until you feel resistance.
4. Turn the crank on the snake clockwise to turn the auger. You may encounter resistance and then advance a few feet quickly, only to have the drain still be clogged. Depending on the material clogging the drain, you may have several clogs to break through before you get to whatever is causing the final blockage.
5. If you meet resistance, but cannot advance through with a few turns of the crank, you may have some sort of solid material blocking the drain. Gently pull the snake out of the drain, hopefully pulling the blockage with it. You don't want to try to push any solid blockage further into the drain. This can be a messy process...as the snake is pulled back out of the drain, wind it back on to the crank. If you do bring up any solid material, deposit it into the bucket for disposal later.
6. If you've cleared the block, your drain should run freely. If not, repeat the steps again until the blockage is cleared. When your drain is clear, pour hot water down the drain to help remove any debris and clear the pipes.
Tips Warnings
If your floor drain is clogged with soap deposits from the washer, you can periodically run a washer full of hot water with 8 ounces of vinegar added. The vinegar helps dissolve soap residue both from the washer and from the drains. Soap residue can come from using too much soap, or primarily doing laundry in cold water. You can also use a cup of vinegar in each laundry rinse cycle to combat soap build up.
You can learn a lot by what comes out of your drain, and not all of it is pleasant. You may need to instruct family members about what cannot dumped down the drains so you aren't repeating this process on a frequent basis.
Don't dispose of whatever came out of the drain by dumping it back down the drain. From personal experience (because I really wasn't thinking) it just ends up giving you more practice using the snake.
If you find yourself all the way through your waste water pipes and haven't reached the clog, you probably need a plumber. You can also call your municipal water and sewage, if you feel the blockage is not on your property. You may also have tree roots in the drains, which require a professional and cannot be removed with a plumber's snake.
Avoid the temptation of using harsh drain cleaners to clear clogs. Most can damage pipes if used incorrectly or too often, and most contain harsh chemicals that can be dangerous to use or if splashed back on clothing or your body. There are much safer ways to clean drains.
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