Disclosure: I am being compensated for sharing this information by rotorooter.com. Opinions remain my own.
I love older homes. The character, charm, and build-its are bar-none! But living in an older home can also present homeowners with your fair share of routine maintenance problems, especially when it comes to your home plumbing pipes.
It goes without saying that I’ve encountered my share of clogged pipes at home. But over the years I’ve found several ways to combat clogged pipes at home. So if you are looking for more DIY pipe maintenance tips at home, here are my 5 go-to tips for keeping your home pipes clear:
Know the structure of your home
Every old home is different. Because of the materials used in the pipes, the angle of the pipes, the structure of the house, the soil and the trees in the yard. All of these elements can work to cause you problems with clogs. Knowing the plumbing structure of your home can save you tons as you will be able to tell plumbers where specific areas of plumbing in your home are and beat the on-the-clock fees of having a plumber sort out the layout of your home pipes for you!
A quick tip: Many city manager’s offices and mortgage companies keep copies online of building permits and home blueprints. These maps often contain plumbing maps. Ask for a copy and keep it in your files and access your map before contacting your local plumbing company!
Remove Trees
Sometimes, plumbing issues can be deeply rooted. Many issues involving clogged pipes, backed-up sinks, and slow-to-drain bathtubs came from tree roots in your front yards. So if your problem is roots from trees, you may need to remove some of the trees near your home’s foundation that is causing the problem. Although its always regrettable losing the trees, tree removal services can be less costly and damaging over time than repeated pipe clearing services. Also, consider root dissolvers.
Products with strong enzymes specifically targeted to dissolve tree roots in pipes that do not affect the life or structures of older, established trees, water tables, or wells. Treating your roots should be done twice a year, in the Fall and Spring. When seasonal ran expose tree roots from dirt and sediment.
Limit What You Put Down Your Drains
Even though your garbage disposal says it can eat anything, that doesn’t mean you really should be putting everything down your sink’s drain pipes. Common pipe cloggers in the kitchen include flour, rice, and other glutenous products! Greasy products should also not be drained in sinks.
Don’t Put Hair Down the Bathroom Sink
Hair doesn’t disintegrate quickly. Even with enzymes. Which lead to clogged, messy pipes at home. Before you push that wad of hair off your brush and down the drain, consider composting it instead! For even better prevention, use a reusable hair catcher on your shower drain to catch your tressed culprits in action!
Keep reliable pipe-clearing products on-hand at home
Having the right products on-hand to clear your drains is vital when you own an older home. For our home, we use the Roto-Rooter® line of at-home products to help keep our drains cleared at home. Remember those commercials on TV with the catchy tunes? Me too!
The Roto-Rooter® home line of products is more than just a jingle. They contain more active ingredients than any other product in the market and the right viscosity to provide the fastest and best-in-category performance but are safe for all types of pipes and septic systems.
When you want professional results, you should buy professional products. Like the Roto-Rooter® home line of products!
Roto-Rooter® has introduced a complete line of powerful and fast acting drain and septic care products. With the Strongest National Brand on the market. Each product has been formulated to meet the demanding requirements of professionals and homeowners, with older homes like myself, who expect professional results.
This past year I was given the chance to review a few of Roto-Rooter’s products, which are their Gel Clog Remover, Hair Clog Remover, and Septic Treatment. All have performed well. Beyond my expectation.
My standout product? The Roto-Rooter® Gel Clog Remover. A safe-to-use product for home pipes, septic systems, and garbage disposals. With Roto-Rooter Gel Clog Remover, the clog is gone within minutes and my pipes are left clean and cleared!
We use the gel clog remover monthly to avoid costly and messy backups. It’s our go-to for pipe care and prevention at home! For more information, click here.
Those are my 5 Simple Steps to Protecting Your Pipes at Home. I encourage you all to utilize these tips in helping to keep your pipes clear at home, especially in older homes! And to check out the full line of the Roto-Rooter® home line of products to help keep your pipes, drains, septic systems, and garbage disposals working their best at home.
You can also check out my other posts in on this product line, clogs 101 maintenance, and drain-care too! Now, I want to ask, what are your best tips for keeping your pipes cleared at home? I’d love to hear them below!
