How to Snake a Drain of Roots
Trees are wonderful additions to the property and provide welcome shade during hot summer months. They also like water and find it where they can, like the drainpipe running underground. The roots from trees, shrubs and grapevines find the smallest of places, usually at the joints, and push their way inside. Over time, they grow and fill up the cavity. The water draining through the drains moves slower, until it barely trickles through. To clean them out, you need to run a snake through your drains. By doing this yourself, you will save a lot of money. Plumbing snakes, called augers, come in two varieties. Drain augers are a long, tightly wound flexible metal cable. At one end, there is a corkscrew auger and at the other end is a crank. The closed auger is much shorter. It has a rigid end that is easy to push down a toilet. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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1
Locate the clean-out plug on your sewer drain. Most clean-out plugs are located in the basement or crawlspace, just below the place where the main pipe drain exits the house. Some houses have the plug outdoors, as a pipe coming up from the ground. This leads straight into the drain pipe.
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Set a bucket under the clean-out plug. Loosen this plug, but do not remove it just yet. Allow the water and waste from the pipe to flow into the bucket. When nothing more comes out, remove the plug and insert the end of the snake into the drain pipe.
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3
Unroll the snake, rotating the reel clockwise. Push the snake forward. If using an electric snake, push the end into the pipe first before you turn on the electric motor.
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4
Move the snake back and forth when you feel resistance. If using an electric snake, reverse the rotation and back out a few feet of cable. Reverse again to go forward. Keep reversing this forward and backward motion until the roots clear away.
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5
Rewind the snake, pulling it out of the drain. There may be tree roots and other debris still attached to the end, so have your bucket ready to catch whatever you pull out.
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6
Pour several buckets of hot water down the drain pipe. If the water still drains slowly, repeat the process with the snake.
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Replace the clean-out plug when you are done. It is a good idea to wrap special tape around the threads. This will make it easier to remove the plug again.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure to fit the drain plug in tightly. If you do not, poisonous sewer gas could leak in.
For less mess, keep some old rags handy. As you pull the snake from the drain, use them to dry the snake.
Be careful when forcing the snake through, as it may not be the clog you are penetrating. It could be the side of your pipe.
Wear rubber gloves when working with the sewer drain pipes and the debris.
