In many cases, you will need a professional plumber to help you deal with blocked drains effectively. That said, there are certain things that you can do yourself to attempt to resolve the issue. If you have never had to deal with a clogged up drain before, then read on to find out what you can try before calling your plumber in to help.

Use a Drain Unblocker

To begin with, there are plenty of drain unblocker products that you can purchase these days. Most of them work on the same principle. That is, you pour them down the sink and they will dissolve the blockage when the liquid reaches them. Unfortunately, because most drains are free-flowing, they will often simply pour over the top of a partial blockage. As such, even when they work, you can find that you get blocked drains quite soon after you had supposedly cleared them. Avoid using ones that rely on acid and then mixing them with those which are alkaline. Use one or the other but not both because they can sometimes mix together and form noxious gases.

Rod Your Drains

When you have fully blocked drains, pouring further material into them will often be ineffective. In such cases, you will have to physically shift the blockage yourself. This means pushing rods into your drain and forcing the clogged up material down the line. As you will be working blind, you never know how far you have to push. What's more, this is a physically demanding job that often means getting covered in dirty water and even faecal matter — if your blocked drains also connect to your toilet outlet, that is. Therefore, using a plumber to do this job for you is highly advisable in nearly all cases.

Drain Inspections

Even if you have been able to rod your drains successfully yourself you may still find that they keep getting blocked. In such circumstances, it could be that the drainpipe has cracked or become deformed in some way. Sometimes tree roots grow into drains which causes soil to fall into them. The only way to find out what is causing the problem is to put a video camera down to see what is going on underground. Most plumbers who work with blocked drains will have the necessary equipment to do this for you. Once the issue has been identified, a trench can be dug to repair the affected area.