Drain Cleaning Tips Every Chicago Homeowner Should Know

Clogged drains are the most common service call we get at Burris and Sons. Week after week, year after year, I go into homes across Chicago's South Side and clear drains that got clogged because of preventable mistakes. I am not blaming anyone. If nobody taught you how to take care of your drains, how would you know? That is why I am writing this.

Here is what actually clogs your drains, what you can do about it, and when you need to call a professional.

What Actually Clogs Your Drains

Kitchen drains clog from three things: grease, food particles, and soap scum. Grease is the worst offender. People pour cooking grease down the drain and run hot water after it, thinking the hot water will carry it away. It does not. The grease cools and solidifies further down the pipe, coating the inside walls and gradually narrowing the opening until nothing gets through.

Bathroom drains clog from hair and soap residue. Every time you shower or wash your hair, strands go down the drain. They do not wash away. They accumulate in the drain trap and the pipe beyond it, combining with soap scum to form a dense, stubborn clog.

Floor drains and basement drains clog from dirt, debris, and sometimes tree root intrusion into older sewer lines. Laundry drains clog from lint, fabric fibers, and detergent buildup.

Prevention: The Kitchen

Never pour grease down the drain. Let it cool in a can or jar and throw it in the trash. Wipe greasy pots and pans with a paper towel before washing them. Use a drain strainer to catch food particles. Even with a garbage disposal, minimize what you send down the drain. Disposals do not eliminate waste; they just grind it small enough to potentially cause clogs further down the line.

Run cold water (not hot) down the drain for 30 seconds after washing dishes. Cold water keeps any grease in solid form so it moves through the pipes instead of coating them.

Prevention: The Bathroom

Install a drain cover or strainer in your shower and tub. Clean it weekly. Pull out the accumulated hair and throw it in the trash. This simple step prevents the vast majority of bathroom drain clogs.

Every month, remove the drain stopper completely and clean it. Hair wraps around the stopper mechanism and creates blockages right at the drain opening.

What Works for Minor Clogs

For a slow drain that has not completely stopped, try this before calling a plumber. Boil a large pot of water. Pour it slowly down the drain in two or three stages, waiting a few seconds between each pour. The heat can sometimes melt soap scum and grease enough to restore flow.

For bathroom drains, a simple plastic drain snake (available at any hardware store for a few dollars) can pull out hair clogs near the surface. Insert it, twist it, and pull out the hair. It is not glamorous, but it works.

A plunger can sometimes clear a clog if it is near the drain opening. Use a cup plunger for sinks (the flat bottom kind), not a flange plunger (the kind with the extended rubber piece, which is designed for toilets).

What Does Not Work

Chemical drain cleaners. Let me be direct about this. Those bottles of drain cleaner you see at the hardware store do more harm than good in most cases. They contain harsh chemicals that can damage your pipes, especially if you have older cast iron or galvanized pipes (which many Chicago homes do). They rarely clear a serious clog. They are bad for the environment. And if they do not work and you call a plumber, now the plumber has to work around caustic chemicals in your pipes, which is a safety hazard.

I have been a plumber for over 60 years and I do not recommend chemical drain cleaners. Ever.

When to Call a Professional

Call a plumber when: the drain is completely blocked and a plunger does not help, multiple drains in your home are slow or blocked at the same time (this indicates a main line problem, not a single drain clog), you see or smell sewage backing up through a drain, the drain clears temporarily but keeps clogging again, or you hear gurgling sounds from your drains.

Multiple drains backing up simultaneously is the biggest red flag. That means your main sewer line is obstructed, and no amount of plunging individual drains will fix it. You need professional equipment: a motorized snake or jet pressure sewer cleaning to clear the main line.

What Professional Drain Cleaning Involves

When I come to your home for a drain cleaning, I start by identifying where the clog is located. I run water, listen to the drains, and check multiple fixtures. For individual drain clogs, I use a professional motorized snake that can reach much further and apply much more force than anything available at a hardware store.

For main sewer line clogs, we use jet pressure sewer cleaning. This technology uses high pressure water to blast through blockages, including tree roots, grease accumulation, and scale buildup. It does not just punch a hole through the clog like a snake does. It cleans the entire interior of the pipe, restoring full capacity.

Maintenance Schedule

Here is what I recommend for Chicago homes, especially older ones. Have your main sewer line professionally cleaned every two to three years, more often if you have mature trees near your sewer line. Have kitchen drains professionally cleaned every two to three years if you cook frequently. Have bathroom drains cleaned when they start to slow, do not wait for a complete blockage.

Prevention is always cheaper than emergency service. Call Burris and Sons at 773-375-4123 to schedule a drain cleaning before you have a problem, not after.