Drain preventive maintenance


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Old 03-07-15, 07:33 AM
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Drain preventive maintenance

After clearing out a kitchen sink drain pipe in the basement, what's a good method to keep it open? I'm being very careful about not letting anything solid go down the drain. I'll look for a strainer with a very fine mesh. I know chemicals are not recommended for clearing clogged drains, but how about occasionally to prevent clogs? A couple times I've run hot water, poured boiling water, and used a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. Are the non-chemical methods the best way to go?
 
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Old 03-07-15, 10:40 AM
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A properly designed drain should not need any preventive mantaince.
 
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Old 03-07-15, 01:22 PM
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No matter how careful a person is a kitchen sink WILL get grease and other organic substances down the drain. This is especially true if you have a garbage grinder installed. In order to minimize problems from this you can use an enzyme cleaner that will literally eat the organic matter. You don't need much and you don't need it all that often, say once a month or once a quarter depending on what goes down the drain.

There are several different brands but the one most often recommended by professional plumbers is Bio-clean. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001N09KN4/...I2V7WXWCWVBVD7 Yeah, it is expensive but that two pounds will last a long time.
 
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Old 03-07-15, 03:31 PM
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Thanks - I don't mind expensive if it works. Very much worth it to eliminate the big unclogging job and cleanup that took about as long.
 
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Old 03-07-15, 06:42 PM
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Once a month I use Drain Care.

ZEP 18 oz. Drain Care Build Up Remover-ZDC16 - The Home Depot

I don't use it for the kitchen branch necessarily, but for the 4" CI pipe under the basement floor. If I don't use it, the 4" CI pipe will clog within 3 months where it picks up the bathroom stack just before the pipe exits the house. I haven't had a clog under the basement floor in over 20 years since using this stuff. It's not terribly expensive, is readily available and one container lasts me a couple years.

I think the best I have ever used is Plumb Clean, but it's more expensive and harder to find. This is the enzyme cleaner that first sold me on this type drain cleaner.

Plumb Clean Drain Cleaner - One 1 lb Jar | Agelong Brands

One thing to remember when using any enzyme cleaner is that the first time you use it, you could have so much gunk break loose from your pipes that the gunk actually falls down and creates a clog. The label instructions mention this. I had this happen too, but it was easy to clear.
 
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Old 03-08-15, 07:26 AM
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Both look good. Like you said, the 2nd item is probably hard to find. I'll get one of the items mentioned and set a monthly reminder to do the process.
 
 

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