How To Fix A Clogged Basement Floor Drain
If you just discovered a pool of water surrounding your basement floor drain, you will need to get this fixed as soon as possible. Basement floor drains are essential for all basements, but they are even more important for homes that experience water leaks when there are periods of large rainfalls. If there is water around your basement drain that will not go down, there is a good chance the drain is clogged. If you want to avoid water damage and mold in your home, you will need to get this problem fixed, and here are several different methods you can use to unclog your basement floor drain.
Try Plunging It
If you want to save money, you could try fixing the problem yourself. The first method you could try involves the use of a plunger. Plungers are great for minor clogs, and they work by suctioning up whatever is causing the blockage. If you place the plunger over the entire drain and give it a few pushes, you might release the trapped debris when you pull up. If you pull up debris and water starts going down the drain, the problem is likely fixed.
Using a plunger is one of the most common at-home methods available for fixing clogged drains, but another common at-home method involves a hanger. If you take a wire hanger and straighten it out, you can push it into the drain to try to clear the line of debris. Unfortunately, both of these methods are not always effective for fixing major clogs in drain lines.
Use A Wet-Dry Vacuum
One other at-home method you could try for unclogging this drain is a wet-dry vacuum. To do this, place the end up of the vacuum over the drain and then turn the machine on. The suction from the machine might be powerful enough to remove the debris stuck in the drain line.
Use A Plumber's Snake
Another method you could try involves a plumber's snake, which is a cable-like device that drain-cleaning companies use all the time to unclog drains. Unfortunately, most people do not own one of these, because they can be expensive. If you happen to have one, you can insert it directly into the drain.
As you do this, you will have to continue pushing the snake in until you reach the clog. You can tell when this happens by the pressure you will feel when pushing it in. If you cannot get it to go in any further, you've reached the clog. At that point, you may need to use a lot of force to push the debris out of the way. If you are able to successfully unclog the pipe, you should see the standing water begin to move down the drain.
Call In A Professional
If you do not have a plumber's snake or cannot push the debris out of the line yourself, the best remedy is to call in a professional sewer and drain cleaning company. The snakes they use to unclog major clogs are motorized. When they insert one into a clogged line, the end of it moves and grinds up everything it comes in contact with. The benefit of this is that the grinded debris can work its way through the pipe and into the sewer system easier, simply because the debris is ground up.
Basement floor drains can get clogged for many reasons, but you might be able to keep your drain line clean by limiting the amount of water that enters onto your basement floor. This may require hiring a plumber to fix any leaky pipes, or you might have to hire a company to waterproof your basement walls and floors.
If you need help unclogging a basement floor drain, call a company that specializes in drain-cleaning services today or click here for info. Many of these companies offer emergency services and are able to come up quickly to fix all types of plumbing problems.