4 Signs You Need Your Drains Cleaned

July 15, 2022

While your drains normally transport waste to the main sewer line quickly and conveniently, various factors can interfere with this process, including grease, roots, and heaps of trash. To ensure that your plumbing system is working quickly and safely, it's important to know the warning signs of potential drain issues. Here are some telltale signs that your drain needs to be cleaned.

1. Routinely Clogged Drains

If you experience frequent clogging in drains throughout your home, you may need to call professional drain cleaning services. Keep an eye out for if your toilet gets clogged over strange or minor flushes. Apart from toilet paper and waste, foreign materials may cause harmful clogs in your toilets. If you use flushable wipes often, aim to use no more than one per flush.

The kitchen sink is also a common cause of drain problems. Food and grease chunks often solidify, clogging your kitchen drain. If none of these factors are the cause of your clogged drain, there could be an underlying issue with your pipes. In this case, you should call in a professional drain cleaner.

2. Slow Drains

It's easy to ignore your sinks draining a second slower than they normally do, but this could be signs of clogging down the road. A slow drain indicates a partial clog, and you shouldn't ignore it. When plunging doesn't work, then it's time to call in the experts. Never use chemical drain cleaners, and try to avoid further damage until your reliable drain cleaning services company figures out the issue.

3. Multiple Clogged Drains

A blockage along your sewer line affects all the drains from toilets, sinks, showers, and bathtubs. Clogs along the main line could be due to broken tree roots or a sewer pipe issue. The ideal drain cleaning services provider uses video technology to establish the exact cause and gives you the easiest solution to clearing the blockage. Solutions like snaking the drain and hydro-jetting are just a few of the services a drain cleaner may offer.

4. Gurgling

If your drain produces a gurgling sound, that could be a sign of gas or air bubbles being trapped in the drain line. This occurs if a clog keeps these components from reaching the vent stack or the pipe that controls air pressure. If you notice that your drains are gurgling, there could be a clog along the sewer line, and it's time to call in the experts.

Clearly, drain cleaning can help to prevent a multitude of pipe and sewer issues down the line. According to Home Service Doctors, if you want your sewer line to function effectively, you should have it cleaned rigorously every 18 to 22 months. So, call Johnny's Plumbing and Hydronics Co today, and we'll ensure your sewer line is in tip-top shape.

Newer Post >

3 Reasons to Hire a Professional Tankless Water Heater Installation Service

October 20, 2025

Upgrade your home’s efficiency with a professional tankless water heater installation service. Enjoy reliable hot water, safety, and long-term savings.

Maintaining a tankless water heater

By 7005743538 • September 29, 2025

A Guide To Maintaining Your Navien Tankless Water Heater This guide walks you through the essential yearly maintenance for your Navien tankless water heater. Performing this cleaning helps prevent scale buildup in the heat exchanger, ensuring your unit provides hot water for years to come. We'll cover turning off the unit, cleaning filters, and descaling the system. Key Takeaways Regular cleaning prevents scale buildup in the heat exchanger. Turn off gas and power before starting maintenance. Clean the cold air intake filter and the cold water filter. Use vinegar to descale the heat exchanger. Flush the system thoroughly after descaling. Preparing Your Navien Water Heater For Service First things first, you need to make sure the unit is safe to work on. This means shutting off the gas and the power. To turn off the gas, find the gas line leading to the heater and turn the handle so it's perpendicular to the pipe. For the power, locate the bottom right button on the unit – it usually looks like a circle with a vertical line – and press and hold it until the power is off. You'll also want to turn off the water supply to the heater by turning the cold water inlet valve and the hot water valve so they are sideways. Cleaning the Air Filter Before we get too deep into things, let's take off the cover of the water heater. There are four screws holding it in place, two on top and two on the bottom. Once the cover is off, you can unplug the power cord as an extra safety step. Now, we need to clean the cold air intake filter. You'll need to loosen one screw on the front left of the intake housing. Then, remove the screw on the front of the filter itself. This will allow you to slide the filter out. You'll likely find some debris in there, maybe from construction or even some bugs. Dump this out into a bucket. It's important to clean this filter with a dry toothbrush. Getting it wet could actually cause an error code on the water heater. Once it's clean, slide it back into place, making sure the notch lines up correctly, and reinsert the screws. Draining and Cleaning Water Filters Now, let's get the water out of the heater so we can clean the filters. We've already turned off the main cold and hot water inlet valves. The next set of smaller valves, usually red and blue, are the service valves. We need to remove the caps from these service valves. Hook up hoses to both of them and run them into a bucket. Then, open both service valves. This will allow the water heater to drain. Let it drain for a few minutes until no more water is coming out. With the water drained, we can remove the cold water filter, which is located above the cold water isolation valve. You might need channel locks for this. Have a bucket ready underneath in case a little water still comes out. You'll see some residue on the filter. Clean this off with a toothbrush. Once it's clean, put it back and tighten it by hand, then give it about an eighth of a turn with the channel locks. The last part to clean is the dirt trap. Pull out the pin, then pull the trap straight down. Make sure the o-ring is seated properly. There might be a little dirt inside the trap, so rinse it out with water and put it back. Descaling the Heat Exchanger This is where we get the heater really clean. We're going to run vinegar through the system to remove any scale. Get a five-gallon bucket and pour in two gallons of white vinegar. You'll need a small sump pump with hose threads on top. Connect the hose from the cold side of your water heater to the top of the pump. Make sure you use the cold side; the system isn't designed to run backward. Place the pump in the bucket of vinegar. Before plugging it in, make sure the return hose is pointing back into the bucket. You also need to ensure the main isolation valves are off, but the service valves are open so the vinegar can flow through the heater. Now, plug in the sump pump. It will pump the vinegar through the cold side, up through the water heater, and out the hot side, back into the bucket. Let this run for about 45 minutes. This is the time needed to thoroughly clean the heat exchanger. Flushing the System and Reassembly After the vinegar has done its job, we need to flush it all out. First, turn off both service valves and remove the hoses. Connect a regular garden hose to the hot side service valve. This hose should go to a drain or a laundry tub. Turn the cold water isolation valve back on and open the hot side service valve. This will push fresh water through the system, flushing out all the vinegar. Let this run until you're sure all the vinegar is gone. Once flushed, turn off the hot side service valve, remove the garden hose, and put the caps back on the service ports. Leave the service ports in the off position. Now, turn the main water supply back on to the heater and to the rest of your house. It's time to put the cover back on the heater, turn the gas back on, and hit the power button. Your Navien tankless water heater should be ready to go! Remember, doing this cleaning every year, or at least every other year, is like changing the oil in your car. It's a good investment to take care of your water heater, and we're here to help if you need it. Thanks for reading!