One of the best ways to prevent a whole-house backup is to never put grease down your drains. Grease and rendered fats solidify as they cool. As they harden and collect on pipe walls, they decrease the interior diameter of pipes with buildups as thick as half an inch. By some estimates, these buildups can reduce flow capacity by up to 25%.
Hardened grease is also sticky and tacky, and it can retain passing items as they pass through your wastewater pipes. These buildups can be just as problematic in sewer lines as they are in drain pipes. To help you stave off grease-related whole-house backups, here are the maintenance tips that matter.
Practice Smart Everyday Kitchen Habits
Instead of pouring grease and used cooking oil down your drains, allow them to cool and then put them in sealed, leak-proof containers. You can toss these containers in the trash or bring them to a local used oil drop-off site.
Before washing greasy pots, pans, plates, and utensils, wipe them off with a paper towel. Even residual grease from dirty dishes can wreak havoc on sewer pipes.
For regular drain maintenance, flush your kitchen drains with generous amounts of hot water once each week. Before flushing them, you can add equal amounts of white vinegar and baking soda to your drains to further break down greasy deposits. Never use boiling-hot water.
Schedule Annual Drain-Cleaning Service
Regularly flushing your drains is not enough. Keep greasy buildups from blocking your drain pipes and your sewer pipe with annual drain cleaning. Hydro-jetting, hydro-steaming, or professional drain snaking will slough off trapped, greasy waste and move it toward the sewer main.
Be Mindful of Grease and Oils in Bathroom Drains, Too
Grease isn’t just an issue in kitchen sink drains. The body oils and self-care products that people wash off their skin and hair can lead to buildups in drain and sewer pipes, too. This is especially true in households that use coconut oil, shea butter, and other oily or fatty skincare and hair care products. When flushing your drains, use hot water, baking soda, and white vinegar in showers and bathtub drains, as well as your kitchen sink drains. Annual drain cleaning will clear out potential blockages in these areas.
Schedule Regular Sewer Inspection and Cleaning Services
Keep track of greasy buildups in your sewer line with professional sewer maintenance service. The best schedule for sewer line inspection and cleaning service is every 18 to 22 months. But if you use a lot of grease in your home or have other risk factors for a whole-house backup, consider scheduling sewer maintenance every 12 months instead.
Keep Solid and Slow-Degrading Items Out of Your Pipes
Be mindful of everything that goes down your drains. Solid and slow-degrading waste can adhere to greasy buildups in your pipes and cause whole-house backups. Never flush “flushable” wipes, paper towels, or other slow-degrading products down your toilets. The only things you should flush down your toilets are toilet paper and human waste.
Keep solid, non-degradable items out of your plumbing system by using drain sieves or drain baskets in every drain. With greasy buildups on the interior of your drain and sewer pipe walls, even small items can lead to major plumbing problems.
Keeping grease out of your household drains is key to preventing whole-house backups. Regular drain and sewer maintenance will keep buildups from residual grease from causing serious waste flow issues. If you live in San Jose, CA or a surrounding area and need sewage cleanup services, make your first call to H & L Remediation.