My Drain Company Blog : Archive for September, 2014

Common Bathroom Plumbing Repairs for Toilets

Friday, September 26th, 2014

One of the most common reasons homeowners call for bathroom plumbing services in Glendale is due to problems with the toilet. Toilets are usually rather reliable, but there are still many reasons a toilet can stop working. And in this day and age, no home can be without a toilet for long, so repair needs are generally rather urgent. DIY repairs may be difficult and many problems simply require the service of a trained professional. When you need professionals to look at your bathroom plumbing, be sure to call My Drain Company right away. In order to help you learn more about some common repairs, we’ve made the following list.

  • Leaking: You may notice a leak from a couple of different areas of your toilet. Unfortunately, some leaks are beyond repair. When the leaking occurs at the tank due to cracks or other damages, it may mean you’ll need to replace your entire tank. A plumber can help you choose a new toilet and get it set up as quickly as possible. But leaks that come from behind the toilet tank, where your plumbing system connects to your tank, will likely only need to be sealed.
  • Clogs: If you have a toilet clog, your first line of defense is usually a plunger. But if a plunger does not effectively loosen a clog, it means you need to call for repairs quickly. There may be a major clog deep within your pipes that requires professional plumbing equipment to remove or dislodge from the sewer line.
  • Water Running Constantly: If water will not stop running, it can be due to a variety of factors with the float assembly and flush valve. A float in your tank makes the water shut off, but if the flapper cannot shut as the float rises, water will continue to run.

If you’re experiencing these problems or any others with your bathroom plumbing, it’s important that an experienced plumber check out the problem to decide on the right course of action. When you need the job done right, trust the dependable team of plumbers at My Drain Company. To schedule bathroom plumbing service in Glendale, contact us today!

Drain Snakes: Why Plumbers Love Them

Friday, September 19th, 2014

If you have a drain clog, you need a plumber with the right tools to clear a potentially large obstruction. While some clogs may come loose with a household plunger, other clogs may be too large or too deep within the pipes for you to reach on your own. When you call for professional drain cleaning, a plumbing professional may use a variety of tools to clean and inspect your pipes, but the most popular of these may be the drain snake.

Most plumbers caution strongly against liquid drain cleaners because of potential dangers and because they simply do not work in many cases. Liquid drain cleaning agents, sold in many grocery and hardware stores, may be effective at removing some clogs and not others. For example, while most of these chemicals can dissolve hair, they often cannot do anything about most other solid obstructions. Besides, the harsh chemicals can be toxic, potentially injuring the skin or eyes and damaging the pipes.

This is why a plumber usually will not go near a chemical drain cleaner. Instead, plumbers come to your home equipped with an array of cleaning tools, perhaps most notable of which is the drain snake. Drain snakes, also known as drain augers, are either motorized or hand operated with a crank. A long wire with a coiled end is fed into the pipes, and the coiled end takes hold of clogs so that the plumber can pull the blockage back up through the drain. Some clogs, like tree roots, cannot latch on to this tool. This is why some drain snakes have multiple attachments to choose from, which may instead allow the plumber to break up a clog so it can flow down the drain with the wastewater.

In any case, drain snakes are one of the most effective ways to completely eliminate clogs without damaging your plumbing. When you call the plumbers at My Drain Company for professional drain cleaning in Glendale, CA, we’ll use drain augers and any other necessary means to clear your plumbing system, and we will check our work using the latest in video inspection technology. Talk to one of our plumbing experts today!

How Plumbers Use Drains Snakes to Clean Drains

Friday, September 12th, 2014

If you have a tough clog, it can inconvenience many of your daily activities. So when water pools up at the bottom of your tub or won’t budge while you do the dishes, you may look for the quickest solutions to clear the drains. For some clogs, a plunger may do the trick. But if the clog is too far down the drain pipe, you’ll need something that can reach down much further.

That’s where the idea behind liquid drain cleaners comes from. This home remedy, often found in hardware stores and even most grocery stores, claims to have the ability to rid your drain of clogs. And while some cleaners may be effective at dissolving some common sources of blockage, usually hair, they fail at removing many other clogs and may instead push them further into the pipes. Besides, the chemicals in liquid drain cleaners and can severely damage your skin and eyes.

Plumbers do not rely on toxic liquid drain cleaners for professional drain cleaning. Instead, they are armed with the right equipment to get tough clogs cleared out completely. While they may have several tools available for drain cleaning, like powerful hydrojetting technology, perhaps the most commonly used is the drain snake.

Drain snakes reach deep into the pipes to break up clogs and bring them to the surface. A drain snake is basically a long, thick wire that often has a coiled end. The wire is rolled up, and may be operated with a manual crank, but more powerful units are motorized. When the wire is released into the pipe and wound back up, the coil catches small objects, hair, food, and some of the sludge that may line the pipes. Alternatively, a plumber may attach a fixture to the end of the drain snake that can break up particularly tough clogs into smaller pieces so they can flow down the drain with the wastewater.

At My Drain Company, we use drain snakes and other tools to rid your plumbing of the toughest clogs, and we use video pipe inspection to make sure that problems are cleared from your system entirely. When you need drain cleaning in Glendale, CA, give us a call!

Why Schedule Storm Drainage Service

Friday, September 5th, 2014

Here in Glendale, CA, we haven’t seen much heavy rain in recent years. But when you’re entirely unprepared for rain, water may pool around your property, leak into your home, or flood your entire house. Water damage can seriously harm your foundation, while standing water means a buildup of mold and mildew which may cause problems with the indoor air quality, possibly triggering respiratory problems in some family members.

To keep water from leaking into your home, you need a storm drainage system to move this water into the sewer system instead. But if your storm drain hasn’t gotten a lot of attention lately, it may be clogged with dirt and debris. Scheduling drain cleaning services for your outdoor drains is the best way to ensure rainwater does not damage your property.

If you need storm drainage installation, you’ll need to call a professional plumber to find the best location for a new drain and ensure water flows without backing up onto your property. And if you’ve never had a professional examine your storm drains, now is the best time.

The Steps of Storm Drainage Service

During storm drainage service, the most important step a plumber takes is a thorough drain cleaning. Leaves, gravel, and dirt may build up in the drains over time if your drainage system does not get a lot of use, or heavy rainfall may carry these items into the drain. That’s why it’s important to schedule drain cleaning for your storm drains before a storm is predicted or after heavy rainfall.

During drain cleaning service, technicians use hydrojetting technology to essentially blast tough clogs into the sewer with high volumes of water. Then, a professional can examine your pipes to ensure the clogs are taken care of. A professional may also check to ensure your drain was installed properly so that water can flow down into the pipes.

You can help keep your storm drains relatively clear by disposing of yard waste properly and keeping your drains free of large blockages. But when you need professional drain cleaning in Glendale, call the experts at My Drain Company today!