Ken's Plumbing | Blog

Do you dream of a comfortable yard filled with mature shade trees in the summer and a show of foliage in the fall? Trees are a beautiful addition to your home’s landscape. But as with many things in life, keeping trees comes with a price—in this case, occasional maintenance costs.

You probably know the importance of keeping branches trimmed away from your roof. But did you also know that root growth can spell (expensive!) trouble for your home’s plumbing if left unchecked?

In previous articles, we’ve discussed items that should never go down your kitchen sink or other drains. At the top of this list are fats, oils and greases (sometimes abbreviated as FOG).

What makes these kinds of substances so bad for your plumbing?

Well, in addition to being harmful for the environment (large amounts of oil and grease are very difficult for water treatment plants to remove from the water system), the main issue to worry about is the likelihood of creating very nasty clogs.

In our last post, we talked about natural bathroom cleaners that can help you keep your bathroom surfaces disinfected without using dangerous chemicals.

This week we’ll focus on how to unclog a drain without commercial drain cleaners such as Drano or Liquid Plumr.

Of course, the best step is prevention. To learn how to avoid problems in the first place, read our post on preventing clogs before they happen.

Why should I avoid chemical drain de-cloggers?

Using natural cleaners helps you remove unnecessary toxins from your home, plus avoid headache-inducing fumes. In the case of drain cleaners, however, there’s also another factor consider: Regular use of commercial drain cleaning products can actually damage your pipes!

While we receive plenty of calls to service residents and commercial business owners in Upstate, SC, we answer a lot calls on drain clogs, too. Even at Ken's, we can EASILY attest to how annoying these clogs are, and many fall prey to having a tub drain clogged without realizing it until they're already taking a shower. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, take a look at some of our tips on keeping your sink or tub unclogged.

Your home's plumbing system is important to the health of your home. Your sewer line removes wastewater from every pipe in your home, from your shower, toilets, or sinks, gallons of water are expended from your home and into the main sewer line every day. Therefore, it's understandable if there are some sewer line issues every now and then—it performs a big responsibility every day whether you're thinking about it or not. But it's always a great idea to remember the key components when wondering if it's time to repair your sewer line. Let's break it down here:

If you're connected to a sewer system, your water drains through a network of pipes that increase in size the closer they get to the wastewater treatment plant. Every drain in your home is connected to a pipe that moves used water from your house to a sewer in the street called your sewer line.

Garbage disposals are kind of magical, aren't they? You just throw your food scraps down there and they get chopped up and washed away without ever rotting and taking up room in your trashcan!

But as with anything, there are some tips and tricks to keep things running smoothly, and some things to know so you can avoid a disaster. We're here to fill you in on all the garbage disposal "dos" and "don'ts" so you can keep choppin' without stoppin'.

We've all been there... Standing by the sink, washing our hands, and then suddenly we drop something valuable down the drain. Our first thought is normally something like, "Oh no, my wedding ring! I'll never see it again!"

While our second thought is more along the lines of, "Wait, I can probably devise a plan to fish this out!" Before you grab the tackle box to go fishing down your drain, hook, line and sink yourself into these instructions on how to properly retrieve the priceless item you dropped down the drain.

Dealing with clogged shower drains can be a hassle, disrupting your daily routine and leading to plumbing issues. However, prevention is key to avoiding such nuisances. This comprehensive guide will explore effective strategies to keep your shower drains clog-free and your plumbing system running smoothly. Say goodbye to inconvenient backups and hello to uninterrupted showers!

Have you ever not known how to dispose of something so you said, "Eh, I'll just flush it down the toilet!" In those situations, have you ever considered that maybe that's not the best option?  

There are actually very few things that are okay to put down the drain, so if you have to ask yourself, "Is it safe to put this down the drain?" the answer is probably, "No." So, while you probably know the stuff that is drain-friendly (human waste, greywater, etc.), let's discuss the items that are NOT safe to dispose of down your drain.