Drain Cleaning Equipment

All-Angle Plunger

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With any home improvement or maintenance, you want the right tool for the job to get things done properly.

Most plungers are designed to work with a certain type of drain. The standard issue plunger, with a suction cup shaped rubber bell on the end of a stick, is designed for plunging flat drains, like you might find in showers, floors, and utility sinks. That design is a poor choice for plunging clogged toilets or bathroom sinks though—the shapes of these drains and their basins require a differently shaped plunger.

Down The Drain

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In situations like these, professionals, homeowners, and handymen will typically look to some form of handheld drain augers as the tool for the job. A clogged toilet should be cleared using a plunger or closet auger specially designed for the task. When the trouble has formed in the service lateral drain (the pipes running away from the home to the main utility or septic tank line) a motorized rooter or plumber’s snake will be used, which has the power to deal with dense clumps of roots and other solid obstructions.

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Plungers work in both directions. They move water back and forth inside the pipes, breaking up the blocking material into smaller bits until the clog can no longer hold itself together.

To do this, an airtight seal must be formed where the plunger meets the plumbing. Any leaks will mean at best an ineffective & noisy plunging and at worst a squirt of sewage back towards the user.

Maintaining this seal while the plunger is worked up and down, for as many as a dozen strokes or for as long as thirty seconds, is the most important consideration, and is why there are so many differently shaped plungers on the market. Hopefully you have the right plunger for your drain. If you don’t maybe you can still make it work.

Handheld-Drain-Auger

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These materials and surfaces can be damaged by the heavy tool housing and cable. You must either protect surfaces from the sharp edges and corners of the auger, or avoid the problem by bypassing these sections of drain and gaining access at another point.

Closet Auger

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The most stubborn clogged toilets will sometimes not be cleared even by lengthy softening and vigorous plunging. In these situations, the next step is to use a tool called a handheld closet auger. The tem closet comes from the old euphemism for bathrooms, water closet, and refers to the fact that the auger is specifically designed for use on toilets and commodes. Augers are also the tool to use when attempting to clear any clog that is not soft or decomposable in nature, such as a toy or toiletry.

Roto-Rooter

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When possible you should get an entry to the drain by removing or opening the associated trap. Very often you will find easy access to a nearby clog. If the obstruction is not immediately seen, the access point can be used to snake both sections of the drain.

On the other hand, some smaller hand-tools will not require you to open a trap or remove a strainer. Tools designed for this purpose will have damage prevention measures, such as no-scratch plastic cables, but should still be used with care around chrome.