So, you are ready for spring. You have the gutters cleaned out, the garden hoses hooked up, the garden ready to till. Now for the clean drain pipes. Yes, you heard correctly. Part of any good home maintenance plan is ensuring your pipes around your home and leading to the city system are clean and ready for the year. Like with everything else in your home, your pipes need spring cleaning so they function well throughout the year.
Why are clean drain pipes so important and why is spring such a
good time? First, pipes get clogged
gradually, usually. Unless your child
tried to flush a green pear down a pipe, it will not typically clog in a sudden
event. Instead, your drain pipes will clog gradually. Oil and grease from the
kitchen. Hair and soap scum from the shower.
These things wash down the drain and accumulate gradually, and one of
the big snags downline is roots from trees, bushes, and grasses. Once you get some hair wrapped around a bush,
and along comes some kitchen grease or soap scum, you get a big, seemingly
impenetrable wall that prevents other waste from moving where it needs to.
So you clean your drain pipes, and spring is the perfect time.
Those roots have spread out over the winter when the plants seemed dormant, and
right now they are trying to get through your pipes. Get those roots and other masses cleared now,
and you won’t have anything popping up at the last minute to ruin your reunion,
vacation, or fun time at the pool.
Run a couple of your high-use drains and clear any slow ones so
your plumbing isn’t on your mind when you have guests or when you leave town.