How Do Plumbers Perform Difficult Kitchen Drain Clearing?

A clogged kitchen drain is an annoying problem that happens in most households sooner or later.

When practical home remedies for kitchen drain clearing fail because the problem is more serious, it is time to call in a plumber.

How do they clear out drains blocked by food and gunk?

It is done first by diagnosing the problem and then using some great tools that are perfect for resolving the problem and creating clear, clean kitchen drains!

Determine The Problem

The first thing that any plumber will do before reaching into their drain clearing toolbox is try to figure out where the problem lies and what the blockage might be.

This involves a quick pipe inspection of the drainage lines leading from the kitchen sink to the main sewer line to locate the blockage.

Frequently done using a pipe camera, plumbers actually look inside the clogged pipe to choose the right tools to clear out drains depending on what the blockage consists of and how far down it is positioned.

Tools to Clear Out The Drain

After the approximate location of the blockage is determined and what it causing it, the plumber will then clear out drains using one or more of these useful plumbing drain clearing tools:

  • Plungers - Typically used to push toilet clogs through, plungers can also be used to dislodge food clogs in a kitchen sink. They are the first go-to tool that plumbers reach for when the clog is minor and closer to the sink as opposed to being further down the drain line and closer to the sewer.
  • Manual or Motorized Drain Snakes - Snakes are long, corkscrew-like cables that can be twisted down into a drain pile to dislodge a blockage by either pushing it through or pulling it up. Manual snakes have a gear that the plumber turns to rotate the snake and larger, motorized ones are either wired or cordless, making them more powerful.
  • Drain Auger - Similar to drain snakes, augers are useful to clean kitchen drains if the blockage is far down in the line and within one of the larger pipes.
  • Hydro-Jet - A hydro-jet is a high-pressure water cutting tool used when larger pipes are clogged or blocked. Though they are not used from the kitchen sink side of the problem, they could be used from the sewer drain side if the blockage is severe enough.
  • Cable Root Cleaning - Another tool used when kitchen drain clearing problems are not actually in the kitchen drain itself, but further along one of the larger drainage lines. Cable cleaning is the process of unblocking a drain and cleaning the inside using a twirling cable equipped with sharp blades that cut away at all the debris.

Kitchen Drains Can Be Cleared!

Fortunately, most kitchen drain clearing is easy to resolve as long as the blockage is not too deep into the drainage pipes.

When clean kitchen drains require a deeper solution, plumbers may attack it from the other side with more powerful tools.