Category: General Plumbing Repairs

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How To Keep Your Drains Clear

How To Keep Your Drains Clear | London Plumbing | London Ontario Plumber

Okay, so we clear drains. That’s our job.

Our goal at London Plumbing is to be the best residential london plumbing repair company in the city, so if you’ve got a clogged drain we’re here to help. We’ve got your back.

But wouldn’t you rather just not have a clogged drain?

I know you love seeing our handsome faces showing up to your door, but you’ll save yourself some stress and headache (and money!) if you just know how to keep your drain unclogged in the first place. So that’s why we put together this little blog article for you.

First Of All, What Clogs Drains?

There are tons of things that clog drains. Often it comes down to knowing what you should and shouldn’t flush.

If you’re planning on flushing something down the toilet, ask yourself these four questions:

– Is it water, or a water-based liquid (eg. not oil)?
– Is it pee?
– Is it poop?
– Is it toilet paper?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, go ahead and flush it. If not, don’t!

Yeah, I know that box of cat litter says it’s flushable. Yeah, I know that baby wipe seems like it’s the same thing as toilet paper. But it’s not.

In fact, some of the biggest causes of clogged drains are cat litter, baby wipes, and feminine hygiene products. If you can just not flush these things, you’ll be way ahead of everyone else who does. And, y’know, your drain is less likely to be clogged.

But it’s not just this stuff that causes clogs. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still get a clogged drain. Some of these causes include:

– Tree roots growing through your pipes
– Ground shifting your pipes out of sync with each other
– A clog in your main sewer line

When this happens, what do you do?

Call us!

How To Keep Your Drains Clear

It’s pretty simple, really. Follow these tips and you can avoid having clogged drains. But all it boils down to is, don’t put stuff down the drain!

– Don’t flush stuff down the toilet that shouldn’t be there. This includes feminine hygiene products, dental floss, cat litter, baby wipes, and more.
– Don’t rinse stuff down the kitchen sink that shouldn’t be there. Food, coffee grinds, rice grains, whatever. Don’t stick it down the drain.
– Don’t rinse stuff down the bathtub drain that shouldn’t be there. This is mostly hair, which sticks together with soap scum and can cause a nasty paste that clogs things up wickedly.
– Don’t rinse stuff down the bathroom sink that shouldn’t be there. That’s mainly hair too, but all the above things still count. Yeah, don’t rinse cat litter or condoms down the bathroom sink either!

Just keep your drains clear of stuff that isn’t water or human waste, and you’ll be good (mostly).

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4 Things To Consider Before Hiring A Plumber

4 Things To Consider Before Hiring A Plumber | London Plumbing | London Ontario Plumber

So you’ve got a plumbing issue that needs solving. Installing new fixtures, removing old ones, clearing drains, or a 24 hour emergency plumbing contractor to stop that water volcano from spraying all over the place and ruining that Picasso painting you just paid $100,000 for at an auction last week because you just won the lottery – it doesn’t matter. You need a plumber’s help.

What do you do? You could just search Google and come up with the first place you can find. That might work for you. But how do you know that plumber is legit? How do you tell the difference between that guy and the next one?

Here are a few questions you should ask any plumber before you hire them.

What Are Your Certifications?

Did you know you need a licence to be a plumber? It’s illegal for someone to say they’re certified when they’re not.

If you’re in Ontario, you can use the Ontario College of Trades website to confirm whether someone actually has the certifications they claim to.

There’s nothing wrong with asking for credentials. Any plumber who actually has the credentials they need shouldn’t be upset if you ask. If they object, that’s a big red flag.

Do You Have Reviews?

It’s 2017, people. Everyone gets everything on the internet, and everyone posts everything on the internet. If you do a good job for enough people, sooner or later someone is going to hit Google or Yelp or Facebook to talk about it.

Same goes for if you screw up. Now, if someone has 50 positive reviews and one or two negative ones, then whatever. That happens. You can’t always please everyone. But if they have 50 negative reviews and one or two positive ones, you might want to rethink what you’re doing.

What’s Your Estimate?

No one should be giving estimates over the phone, especially for complicated jobs.

Just a clogged drain may be one thing, but what if your plumber gets there and finds out the drain is clogged because of a tree root, or a buildup of clay, or your pipes have shifted altogether? There’s so much that’s unseen at first and you can’t know until you actually take a look.

Don’t trust someone who just hears about the job over the phone and gives you an estimate. It’s probably going to be wrong, and you’ll end up paying for it.

How Do You Communicate?

You can’t really ask a plumber this question, but you should consider it yourself anyway.

Communication is related to reliability. Do they actually show up when they say they’re going to show up? And if they don’t, do they at least give you notice and a valid reason?

And how do they respond to your questions when you talk to them? Are they open, patient, and understanding? Or do they dismiss your concerns in a gruff, grumpy manner?

When they answer your questions, do they sound confident that they know what they’re talking about? Or do they sound like they’re just making it up as they go along?

If it’s the latter, you might want to take a look at that registry…

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5 More Things You Should Never Flush Down The Drain

5 More Things You Should Never Flush Down The Drain | London Plumbing | London Ontario Plumber

Last week I told you about a few things you shouldn’t flush down the drain.

Ever.

Ever ever ever ever!

They were:

• Cat litter
• Baby wipes
• Disposable diapers
• Feminine hygiene products
• Cotton balls

But that’s not all. There are a whole lot more things that, if you flush them, you’re booking yourself a one-way trip to 24 hour emergency plumber city. Population – you, your toilet, and your wallet.

Yeah I know, it’s a hassle. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just throw everything in the toilet and flush it? Then it all disappears and you never have to think about it again?

Maybe in the future we’ll have robots in the pipes to clear up any clogs. But until then here are five more things you should NEVER flush down the drain.

Condoms

Imagine a tree root growing through your pipe. A stick right through the middle of it, like a no smoking sign. Then imagine you flush a condom past it. What do you think is going to happen?

Maybe it’ll pass by, if you’re lucky. But maybe it’ll catch on it, which will make the tree root block more of the pipe. Then imagine more stuff catches on it, and you can see what I’m talking about here.

Don’t flush your condoms. Wrap them up in toilet paper and throw them in the trash. Trust me, it’s embarrassing when your plumber finds out that’s the reason for your clogged pipes!

Bandages

Is it a cloth bandage? Then it’s not going to break up when you flush it. And because it’s designed to absorb liquid (blood, in this case), it can end up expanding in your pipes and catching on the smallest chip or root in your pipe.

Is it an adhesive bandage, like a Band-Aid? Then it’s sticky, so it might get stuck to the side of your pipes. And even if you fold it up before you flush it, it’s not designed to break up, so you’ll get the same problem as anything else.

Just don’t flush it. I know it’s kind of gross and has blood on it. But don’t flush it.

Fats, Cooking Oils Or Grease

You’re probably not flushing this down the toilet. You’re probably pouring it down your kitchen sink drain if anything. But hey, don’t do either of those.

This stuff is gooey and sticks to the sides of your pipes. Then when you flush that bandage or cotton ball down the drain (even though I told you not to!) it can get stuck to the goo that’s built up. Don’t flush it!

Keep an empty can in your freezer, and pour the grease into it when you’re done cooking. Then when you’ve filled it up toss it in the garbage. Or you can open the door and toss the oil in your backyard. Or you can whip it up into a smoothie, I don’t care. Just don’t flush it!

Rice

Again, probably not a toilet thing. But look – rice expands in water. So if you’ve got a bunch of rice going down your drain, what do you think is going to happen?

Don’t flush rice. Don’t put rice down the drain. Put it in the garbage, or better yet – just eat it!

Paint, Household Chemicals, And Other Hazardous Waste

Are you crazy? You’re pouring that stuff down your drain? Stop stop stop!

First of all, that’s illegal. And second, this stuff can get into the water supply, harm wildlife, and also damage your pipes.

You can take it to a waste disposal site. Here’s a list of the ones in London. You might also be able to donate your old paint to community projects or children’s charities.

Prescription Medication

For those of you at home counting along, you’ll notice this is the sixth in a list of five. But that’s just an added bonus for you. That’s right – buy five, get one free! You never know what sort of crazy deals you’ll find

Now look, this one’s not so bad for your pipes. But there’s more to life than just pipes.

When you flush this stuff down the drain, it can end up in the local water supply, in the Thames River, or in other ponds or lakes nearby. And if they’re antibiotics they can kill a lot of the animals in the water. And look, the Thames River has enough problems as it is. We don’t need to make it worse.

The London Police has a program where you can turn in your old prescription drugs. Here’s a London Free Press article on it.

Contact London Plumbing

Look, no one’s perfect. Even if you know this stuff, maybe your kids don’t. And maybe you’ve got a clogged drain because your teenage son wants to flush his condoms so you don’t know what he’s up to.

Whatever the reason, we won’t judge. We’ll just clear your drain. Give us a call, we’re happy to help!

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5 Things You Should NEVER Flush Down The Drain

5 Things You Should Never Flush Down The Drain | London Plumbing | London Ontario Plumber

Here at The London Ontario Plumbing Company, we’ve been clearing drains and solving plumbing problems for a while now. But the same problems often pop up from house to house, and I’m convinced this is because people just don’t know enough about how their toilets should work. I guarantee every london general plumbing repair company deals with these on a regular basis.

Drop it in the water, flick the lever, and the problem disappears, right? That’s how it might seem on the surface, but there’s a lot more to it than that. In fact, the only things you SHOULD flush down the toilet are toilet paper and, well, your waste.

Here are some of the most common things that can clog a toilet.

Cat Litter

This one drives me nuts, because there are lots of brands of cat litter that the companies advertise as “flushable” as though it won’t cause tons of problems if you flush them!

The truth is, this stuff clogs up drains like crazy. Because it’s designed to clump up, it can stay stuck in the drain and build up, causing a clog. And if you’re using clay-based litter, it can be so tough and so solid you have to actually drill through it. No fun!

Just dump it in the garbage. I don’t care what the label says. Don’t flush this stuff down the toilet!

Baby Wipes

You might think you can flush baby wipes down the toilet because you can flush toilet paper down the toilet but it doesn’t work this way.

Toilet paper is thin and flimsy and designed to dissolve in water. Go ahead, soak a piece of toilet paper and a baby wipe. The baby wipe is much stronger! This is good for your baby, but it’s not good for your plumbing.

When you flush baby wipes, they have the tendency to get stuck in the drain. This gets even worse when you have tree roots growing through your pipes, since they get caught on it and stop other things from flowing through.

Instead of flushing baby wipes, wrap them up in your used diaper and toss them away.

Speaking of which…

Disposable Diapers

Now I know what you might be thinking. How does anyone think you can flush a diaper down the toilet? They’re too big to fit!

Yeah I know, but not everyone thinks like you and I do. Some people think you can flush anything.

Don’t flush diapers. Just don’t do it. It’s a terrible idea. I don’t care what the package says – they’re not going to fit down your drain, and even if they do they’re not going to make it to the sewer. They’re going to clog your toilet and cause all sorts of problems.

Feminine Hygiene Products

Similar to baby wipes, feminine hygiene products aren’t designed to dissolve the same way toilet paper is. So when you’re done using them, you can’t flush them.

Feminine hygiene products are one of the most common things that clog drains, so if you use them you can save yourself a lot of plumbing headaches by disposing of them in the garbage.

This is especially true for tampons – after all, they’re designed to expand when they’re wet. They’re practically designed to clog pipes!

Cotton Balls

Cotton balls or cotton wipes are horrible for your drains. Cotton is designed to absorb water, so if you flush a bunch of cotton down the drain it will expand and fill your drain.

It’s even worse if you flush cotton swabs because they’re on sticks. The smallest thing can stop them from flowing through the drain away from you – and they’re going to catch everything else after them too.

Do you want a plumbing nightmare from your cotton? No? Then throw them in the garbage.

Contact The London Ontario Plumbing Company

If your drain is clogged, even if it’s because of one of these reasons, give us a shout. We’ll be there to help clear out your drains and get everything working smoothly again.