Drain Cleaning Forum

[Terry]

Macplumb 777 suggested the new forum here.
He is a 35 YR. MASTERPLUMBER WITH A PH.D IN WATER HEATEROLGY AND A MASTER'S DEGREE IN DRAINOLGY

A forum on cleaning drains.
He currently works as a rep for Trojan (http://www.trojantoolmfg.com/) Sewer & Drain, so he has lot's of experience with the equipment, and as a water heater expert.
I try to avoid the machines, but there are entire companies that devote themselves to clearing drains.
Hopefully, by having a separate category, we can organize the questions and answers better.
Terry Love

[C NUMB]

Thanks for the info. Soon I will be in the market for leak detection equipment and possibly a camera setup.

[SewerRatz]

Nice, I was thinking this as well. We do specialize in cleaning drains. Its how our company started back in 1959. In all honesty I prefer drain cleaning, people appreciate you more when you get the water to go down, and pay the bill happily. Where as doing pipe work, the expect it to look good and not leak, and usually complain about the bill.

Thanks for giving drain cleaning its own little wall for us to write on.

[cwhyu2]

Thought something was missing Good idea!

[hj]

MASTERPLUMBER WITH A PH.D IN WATER HEATEROLGY AND A MASTER'S DEGREE IN DRAINOLGY

I would like to see the degrees and know where he received them from. I have been in the business for 20+ years longer than he has been and have never seen, or heard of, a university which offered those courses. Maybe they came from a box of Crackerjacks or an online diploma mill which also offered courses in "folding napkins and other lifetime skills".

[Terry]

I would like to see the degrees and know where he received them from.


hj,
He's just having fun with it.
We know they don't give out doctors for our kind of work.

[SewerRatz]

MASTERPLUMBER WITH A PH.D IN WATER HEATEROLGY AND A MASTER'S DEGREE IN DRAINOLGY

I would like to see the degrees and know where he received them from. I have been in the business for 20+ years longer than he has been and have never seen, or heard of, a university which offered those courses. Maybe they came from a box of Crackerjacks or an online diploma mill which also offered courses in "folding napkins and other lifetime skills".

Spartan Tool used to have a program called The International Institute of Sewer & Pipe Cleaning (http://web.archive.org/web/20010119144900/spartantool.com/institute.html)

[Plumber00001]

I stumbled across this page and saw that pic of the rat, i like that, thats a true sewer rat!!. Sewers specializing is the way to go.

[Plumber00001]

So what part of chicago are you from ?

[kingsotall]

Sewers specializing is the way to go.

You might be on to something...

[SewerRatz]

So what part of chicago are you from ?

I started out in Bridgeport by Archer and Halsted. We are now in the Burbs. I currently live in Naperville, we have offices on the East side, and LaGrange, Lombard, Naperville, North Aurora, Schamburg, Elgin, and Arlington Heights.

[GabeS]

I got my PhD in Pipeology. I was thinking about getting one in Drainology, but didn't have the time.

[hj]

I was in central Chicago then moved to the South suburbs, Harvey, Chicago Heights, Homewood, etc. Left the year after the "big snow" in 1968 and moved to Michigan where it was like that every year, so decided to go where they did not have any snow.

[kingsotall]

I hear that HJ. Made it through another winter up here in Flag but I realize we don't have anything on the upper states.

[MACPLUMB 777]

Yes i know what you mean last week it was raining here in houston and bright
and sunny in salt lake city, utah

but this morning i got a phone call from a friend in salt lake, where it's
been snowing since 6;am mst in the intermountian west
so i think i am doing ok in houston texas
i am starting to reach out to other plumbers in the area to find out what kind of income i can make in texas

[freeflow]

I started out in 1971 guess my title besides master plumber ,gasfitter, real title should be HOCKYOLIGIST

[tylercantango]

One thing you can do is maintain the cleanliness of you drain so you don't need to do anything major. Using a debris trap is always a good idea and removing foreign matter before it falls too low to be removed by hand .;)

Toilet Bowl Cleaner (http://thetoiletbowlcleaner.com/)

[edster]

How do you isolate the source of a sewage odor in a multi-unit building? Is there typically a junction or traps around the perimeter of a building that you can proceed to FLUSH the connections? I've heard of drum-trap sections that can be sources of trouble. We have a persistent sewage smell coming from a certain section of our unit, but we are not experiencing any backup or drain backup in our unit. We have a shower-bath that is rarely used. If that drain remains dry or un-used can that be trouble? Our neighbor above complains of the same odor. If we do find the source, do plumbers have a commercial liquid solution that can be "flushed" through the system to "sanitize" the network of pipes? I would like to give this building a COLONIC and thoroughly flush the entire drain system - laundry, toilets, sinks. Does such a solution exist in the industry?

[JoshBim]

You can clean the house by yourself, but I think it is better to entrust the cleaning of house to cleaning company. I use the services House Cleaning in Seattle Area (http://seattlescleaning.com) and quite pleased with their service

[Alberto01]

Blocked drains can be quite a mess. However, knowing the cause and addressing it is your key to unclogging the problem. Plumbers are the best person to help you to get rid of this situation. The plumber places their tool inside the pipe in order to cut whatever obstruction there is and create a smooth flow of liquid within the pipe. The pipe is then flushed with water to see if the blockage has been completely cleared.