- Is your bathroom smelling bad?
- Have you ever been hit by an unwanted, unpleasant, overpowering smell that is associated with sewer?
- Does this nasty smell sticks around your bathroom or kitchen and you desperately want to get rid of it?
If you can smell something unpleasant and the smell is emanating from your bathroom, kitchen or laundry sink and drains, chances are there is some unwanted waste stuck in the pipes that is decaying and causing the bad odour. There are few things as frustrating as a blocked and smelly drain. Blocked drains are a nightmare for any homeowner and when drains fail to clear you are stuck with a smelly, inconvenient mess that can be rectified by a professional blocked drain plumber Adelaide. Smoothly running plumbing is essential for everyday household functions and when an issue like smelly drains comes to surface it’s advised to address the problem fast. When drains work like they should, they are invisible and usually forgotten, but horrible smell is an indicator that something is not quite right and there is a problem with drainage. This smelly problem could just be the start of a bigger issue in your drains. Only way to get rid of this plumbing mess and clean smelly drains is by attacking the source of the problem.
What causes smelly blocked drains?
Smelly drains don’t just come from nowhere; they are more often than not a result of neglect. Drains are designed to remove water from wet areas in a house – the kitchen, bathroom, laundry, and toilet. However, overtime pipes and drains fill with soap, hair, grease, debris, dirt, grime, foreign objects, and who knows what else.
Hair: in our Adelaide plumbing experience washed away hair tops the list of reasons for blocked drains. When you shave in the sink or wash your hair in the shower, the fallen hair gets washed down the pipe and accumulates in the drain, eventually building up over time causing stubborn blockages. As we know drain blockages make it difficult for water and smell to pass through with ease and that further causes smelly conditions in your bathroom.
Grease & Fat: kitchen sinks are most prone to blockages caused by fat and grease. If you don’t think twice before tipping fatty substances, grease or oil down your kitchen sink then get prepared for drainage problems in the future. Grease traps smaller food items in the pipes making a clog that gets bigger with time and makes it difficult for water and debris to get through. The formed clog, made up of grease and food particles, keeps decaying in the pipes leading to unpleasant smells and blocked drain problems that professional plumbers can clear.
Toiletries and Other Gunk: disposing excess toilet paper, baby wipes, diapers, sanitary products, cotton balls, earbuds etc. in the toilet is a bad idea. Flushing these objects down the toilet is a big no-no as these don’t dissolve in the pipes. Rather, these objects absorb water and enlarge causing severe blockages in the plumbing .
Tree Roots, Leaves, Outdoor Debris: if your plumbing is incredibly old tree root intrusion could cause blockages and smelly drains. Build-up of debris, fallen leaves, dirt, etc. that flows in outdoor drains result in build-up leading to clogs that can make your drains smell bad.
Simple Steps to Banish Bad Smells in Your Bathroom or Kitchen
Now that we know what causes smelly and blocked drains, let’s look at some tips to banish bad odours from pipes and drains on your own, However, if your drains are blocked, and you don’t want to get your hands messy, get in touch with trusted Adelaide plumbers today. ABA Plumbing crew will handle it all for you – from blocked drains, smelly drains to any other plumbing issue that you might be facing.
Materials Needed: to get you started on clearing out your drains and getting rid of the foul smell, make sure you have rubber gloves, hot water, vinegar, baking soda or bicarb-soda, hose, wrench, and plunger. With all these items you’ll be better prepared to tackle your smelly drain problem.
Step 1 – Hot Water and Vinegar: please ensure you do not have PVC pipes before going ahead with this step as it may cause pipe damage. This simple yet effective method will help you wash away any gunk in your drains. Boil water, boil vinegar and pour these alternatively down your drain slowly. Hot water and vinegar will break down any fat or grease clogs and give you free flowing drains banishing any bad smells.
Step 2 – Plunger: if the above method doesn’t give you 100% satisfactory result you can try using a plunger to unclog your drains. Fill the shower or sink with hot water just enough to submerge the end of the plunger, position the plunger on the drain, and then start plunging vigorously until the clogged drain is no more. Expert tip – apply some petroleum jelly on the edge of the plunger for a better seal and effective plunging action.
Step 3 – Baking Soda + Vinegar: baking soda or bicarb-soda and vinegar combination works wonders on drain clogs that cause slow draining water and nasty odours. Pour a cup of baking soda into the problem drain and fill it up with two cups of hot vinegar. This mixture will fizz and bubble breaking down the clog. Leave it for at least an hour then pour hot water down the drain to clear completely.
Step 4 – Clean the P-Trap:
cover your hands with rubber gloves and roll your sleeves for some P-trap cleaning. You’ll see water, gunk, and debris trapped in. Get rid of it and thoroughly rinse out the p-trap using a garden hose cleaning it completely. This should get rid of the bad smells and any clogs.
Hopefully, some these simple drain clearing steps can help you in your fight to eliminate the sewerage smell in your bathroom or kitchen.But when all else fails, make sure to call in the plumbing professionals to clean any smelly drain quickly and with minimal inconvenience to you.
