Wow! You realise that your outside drain is blocked! The first thing that worries you is how much it will cost you to fix it or how to contact a local expert. However, we urge you not to panic. There are some things you can try before reaching out to a professional. Here are essential tips you should learn to tackle a blocked outside drain. These tips will come in handy for you should you need to unblock your outside drain. So read through and relax.
Outside Drain Unblocker: Chemicals and Tools
For external drains, some chemicals and tools serve as effective unblockers for your blocked drains.
They are:
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Protective Gloves
You will require a pair of rubber protective gloves when you know how to clear the blocked drain outside your house. While fishing around the drain pipes outside, knowing how to unblock them is not sufficient. You never can tell what lurks down the pipes. Besides, it is such a smelly and dirty job. So, ensure you are protecting your hands from dirt and injuries.
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Rope
Ropes are your most essential tools when you need to wrench open your drain by the handle. You do this by tying the rope around the drain cover and tugging at it to make it budge away.
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Carrier Bag
Keep a portable plastic bag close to you when you want to unblock a drain pipe outside your home. It is in this bag you discard any debris or dirt from the blocked drain pipe.
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Drain Rods
Still wearing your protective gloves, push the rods inside the chamber of the drain and keep doing so until you feel a hindrance. This hindrance means that you have dislodged a kind of drain blockage. Working slowly, move the rods in a clockwise manner, pushing them forward.
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Do not attempt to rotate your rods in an anti-clockwise direction. This is, so it does not result in your unscrewing the attachment of the drain’s plunger. Be consistent by struggling the rod through such blockage. This is one of the best outside drain unblockers which will help in breaking up grime or grease which the drain houses. You can get drain rods relatively cheaply through an available hardware store, or online.
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Bleach
When you do the dirty job of unblocking out the drain, you will want to make sure that it is as clean as can be. Bleach your drain pipe to add a little freshness to it
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Garden Hose
Let your garden hose stay firmly with you. When your drain needs clearing out, you will be sure that the blockage is only a temporary one.
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Drain Unblocker or Caustic Soda
Learn how to unblock your drain outside using caustic soda. Pour some tablespoons of caustic soda into the blocked drain outside. Then you add a little water, allowing the dogs fizzle away. The dirt making up the drain blockage will rise to the top. Add some more water and remove the trash as it makes it way to the top.
How To Unblock Your Outside Drain
Repairing the damage to an efficient drainage system requires the services of an expert. What we do not know most of the time is that with very minimal tools and efforts, you can repair the blocked drainage system, including your blocked kitchen drain outside the home. Therefore, if you do not mind getting stuck in the pipes, and probably becoming smelly and stained, there are essential things to consider to understand how to unblock your outside drain.
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Determine What The Problem Is
It all begins with simply figuring out where the issue of the blocked outside drain lies, and how to fix it quickly. While your shower drains may be blocked because of your hair products or due to when your hair sheds repeatedly, your body products may also be an essential cause. Your outside drain then becomes blocked with grease, leaves, dirt and other debris. It is about time you got to work.
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Gather The Necessary Equipment
If you are confident of having what it takes to unblock your drain pipe outside, then you should keep in mind the essential equipment. This equipment will make your job easier and faster. Apart from protecting yourself with the appropriate clothing, the manual and chemical unblockers paper writer explained above go a long way in getting the job done.
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Remove The Cover Of The Outside Drain
Tug at the protection of the external drain away so you can get a better chance of assessing the blocked drain.
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Look Into The Drain
If the drain is full up with water, then the blockage will be after the chamber. However, if the pipe is empty, you will find the blockage before the chamber. While working on the drain chamber, locate the one that is neither full nor empty.
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Grab The Drain Rods
It is at this stage that you will require the drain rods and use them the way we mentioned earlier.
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Clean Up
When you succeed in unblocking your blocked external drain, run some clean, fresh water through the pipe. By doing so, you rinse away extra dirt remaining in the drainage system. Turn on the taps inside your home and let the water flow for about three minutes. Then try to observe if the water is running normally. Next, pour some bleach into the drain to ensure its cleanliness.
When you have unblocked the drain, run some bright, fresh water through it. This will rinse away any extra debris to prevent a blockage from happening again. Turning on your taps inside your house, let them run for around three minutes and try to determine if the water is running as usual. Next, pour a little bleach down the drains to ensure they’re as clean as they can be. Not satisfied with the results of these techniques of water, drain rods and bleach? Contact an experienced plumber to get your drain in shape in little time.
How To Fix A Blocked Outside Kitchen Drain
Would you prefer to clear your blocked outside kitchen drains with less effort? Perhaps you would like to save some money and avoid the stress of reaching out to an expert? Of course, there are some cases where only the assistance of a professional will do. Sometimes, you will realise that once you have unblocked a kitchen drain outside your home, it gets filled with water only less than a week later.
The following guidelines will help you maintain unblocked kitchen drainage:
- The cheapest way to begin the unblocking process is to pour a hot kettle of water through the drain. This is because very often, water that contains fat seeps through the kitchen sink and congeals, thereby blocking the pipes.
- A power washer can also do the trick. You can clear all of the muck in your kitchen sink and jet it out with the power washer.
- Another tip is to connect a hose to the top of a small plain bottle. And, cut out a hole in its base. This is a perfect fit when you push it into the drain. This method is used on blocked toilet drains as well.
Have you tried any method above yet? What is great about them is that they require little in terms of money or tools. Hence, give any of them a try, and your outside kitchen drain will soon unblock.
How To Prevent External Drain Blockage In The Future
To avoid the worry about fixing or managing a blocked drain in your garden, you should devise methods on how to avoid the situation. The instructions below will give you insight on how to clear your outside pipes in such manner as to prevent their blockage.
- Do not allow grease to be in your sink. Instead, soak it in with a kitchen towel and throw it in your bin. Do likewise for hair, food, soap scum, and other kinds of debris.
- Close the opening of the external drain with a drain-gate or screen. This will reduce problems with grease, food and soap scum that result in a blocked drain.
- Regularly wash your outside drains, rinse them with water, and bleach if the case demands. Pour boiling water through your kitchen sink after every use so its drain will not get blocked.
- Monitor your kids if they will do the dishes. They may wash the dirt down the kitchen sink, and when the dirt accumulates over time, it leads to a blockage.
Now you know how to clear your outside blocked drains, including your kitchen drain, with chemical unblockers and other tools. But, if you are still finding it hard to get a fresh, clean and debris-free pipe, contact us at ALK Plumbers. Your blocked external drain will get a transformation.
We have a team of experienced professionals to sort out your outside drain blockage efficiently and quickly. This will leave you time to focus on your daily activities. Understanding all the intricacies on how to clear your blocked outside drain can be a chore. Allow us to take that burden off you.
