Drain Cleaning Checklist

General Drain Checklist

These are some of the general checks to bear in mind before leaping into a certain area:

• Detect the symptoms of a backed-up or slow drain: water that is not going down, gurgling, and bad smells.


• Be familiar with the location of the main drain cleanout of your home.


• Never dispose of grease, oils, hair, coffee grounds, or fibrous wastes through any drain.


• Have the minimum drain cleaning tools at hand.


• Get drain covers or strainers where the garbage will land and not get into the pipes.


• When you have frequent clogs, then go ahead and schedule a professional check-up.


• Consider the inspection of drains once a year, or in cases with older houses or bars.

Kitchen Sink Drain Checklist

• Wash down and remove the sink strainer or basket.


• Use hot water to run through the drain every day to aid in grease dissolving.


• Once a month, pour a mixture of baking soda and vinegar to neutralise the odours and prevent accumulation.


• It is very important never to pour fats, oils, or grease (FOG) down the sink, but rather use a container or a jar.


• Organic residue should be cleaned with enzyme-based cleaners once per month.


• Clean the blades of the garbage disposal by using ice and lemon peels.


• Pour some dish soap and cold water into the disposal and run it for 30 seconds weekly.


• Check the p-trap below the sink and look for leakage or the presence of buildup.


• Unscrew the trap and wash it. There should be a bucket at hand.


• The regular use of chemical drain cleaners is bad, as this may harm the pipes.

Bathroom Sink and Vanity Drain Checklist

• Clean off hair and debris in the pop-up stopper once a week.


• Once a month, pour boiling water and baking soda down the drain.


• The hair clogs must be cleared using a zip plastic or Mini-snake.


• Inspect through the overflow opening and clear this to promote the airflow.


• Be sure not to have toothpaste or soap scum build up on the edges of stoppers.


• Check the vanity, looking at the water or water marks.


• Take the trap to pieces in case the obstruction is obdurate.


• It is not a good idea to flush cotton swabs or floss.


• Put up a mesh screen or drain catcher that will protect the entry of hair.


• Remove odours and soap film by the use of a vinegar flush.

Shower and Bathtub Drain Checklist

• You should wash and remove the drain cover once every week.


• Unless you wear deadly tweezers or a hair snake, you remove hair and soap scum using something.


• The drain is poured with boiling water to soften the remains of soap.


• A bio-enzyme cleaner should be used once a month to keep the flow.


• Maintain a clear vicinity of tile grout to minimise trash that goes through the drain.


• Avoid soaps that use bath bombs or oily soaps that are not easy to wash away.


• Look out to see whether there is arriving water or sluggish drainage when having a shower.


• Hot water should be run weekly to ward off buildup.


• Put a tub drain screen that will collect hair and soap particles.


• Clean out observable openings of a drain with the help of an old toothbrush.

Toilet Drain Checklist

• Toilet paper and people only should be flushed, and no paper towels, wipes, feminine products, or any type of wipes.


• Use hot (but not boiling) water to soothe a small clog in the bowl.


• Insert a loose one with a flange plunger to do the tight sealing and remove clogs.


• When it is too deep outside a trap, you can use a toilet auger.


• When the sink is clogged, multiple flushes should be avoided, as it may cause an overflow.


• When flushing, the gurgling must be emitted, a symptom that may indicate trouble with the vents.


• A natural freshening of the bowl can be done using baking soda and vinegar.


• Check under and around the toilet bowl to determine whether there is leakage.


• When the problem is not solved by plunging or snaking, call a plumber.


• Never use drain cleaning materials, as they are harmful to porcelain and plumbing.

Floor Utility Drain Checklist

• Take out the drain grate, and look to see whether it has debris.


• Remove large clumps of sludge or dirt using gloves and either manually or with a shop vac.


• Put boiling water, or a garden hose, through your drain.


• Clean up the clogs every month with the use of enzyme-draining solutions.


• To keep the trap seal, pour some litres of water into drains that are normally not used.


• Sewer Odours Take care, sewer odours could be an indication of an evaporated P-trap.


• Make sure that there is clear laundry lint in the surrounding space to prevent the creation of blockages.


• Apply a lint trap to the discharge of the washing machine.


• Make sure garage drains are not full of leaves or oils, or mud.


• Older floor drains are to be snaked once a year.

Main Sewer Line Checklist

• Know where the main sewer cleanout is.


• Look out for the symptoms such as repeated drain back-ups, gurgling toilets, or water in the basement.


• Not a single tree or plant should ever be planted anywhere near your sewer line; sticks can wreak havoc on a sewer.


• One should not put wipes or large wastes that can cause the main line obstruction in the process of flushing.


• Minor blockages can be cleared with a mainline bladder, which is easily obtained at the hardware store.


• Contact a plumber to jet or camera-inspect pipes, in case there are problems.


• Before purchasing a house, ask to have a sewer scope inspection.


• The installation of a backwater valve will stop the sewage.

Checklist for Drain Odour Control

• Typically, daily, flush water through drains that are infrequently used so that dry traps are recharged.


• Ensure that there are holes (garbage disposal and sink overflow holes) that are clean.


• The bad odours should be neutralised by adding fruits like lemon in lemon juice or baking soda.


• Peek into a stinking drain to observe a leak or mold.


• Activated charcoal or drain covers with a deodoriser can be used.


• Make sure that there is no obstruction or snow in the plumbing vent stacks.


• Make sure that the wax rings around toilet bases are sealed against leaks of sewer gases.


• All plumbing is to be clean and full of P-traps.


• Install new drain pipes in case of broken or damaged drain pipes, where odors cannot able to be eradicated


• In place of an area under-ventilated, put in place the air admittance valves (AAVs).

The Tools that Fit In Every Household

• Plunger (flange and cup)


• Toilet auger/ hand auger


• Zip-it plastic cleaner


• A bucket and rubber gloves.


• Old scrub brush or old dentifrice


• Drain cleaner


• A siphon cover or sieve


• Wet/dry vacuum

Drain Cleaning Hacks of the Pros

• Conduct regular inspections of the drains in places that have a lot of traffic or are highly used.


• Apply hydro jetting in case of deep cleaning of heavily blocked or grease-ridden pipes.


• Camera inspections are used to find out about root intrusion or damage to the pipes.


• Professionals can rule out descaling the cast iron pipes or replacing broken lines


• Repairing sewers by way of trenchless pipe relining occurs in the most non-disruptive way.


• Request a complete health report on the plumbing after the job is done.


• It should then be followed up by enzyme treatments to keep it clean.


• Install clean-outs in convenient locations so that they are quicker to service in the future.


• Contact the advice on the upgrading of the pipe material in case you are residing in an old house.


• Prepare the contact details of an emergency plumber in case of emergency backups.

Signs of Professional Drain Cleaning Needs

• The plugging occurs repeatedly with DIY cleaning.


• More than one drain is backed up.


• When using other fixtures, gurgling of pipes is heard in sinks or tubs.


• Smells of sewerage coming out of drains.


• The water in the shower or the bathtub had been backing up during a period of doing laundry.


• Roots of trees that invade the outdoor drains or the basement target/ pipes.


• Often, blockages are in the same place.


• Damp spots on the lawn or sewage.


• Basement walls around the floor drains have water stains.


• Flooding on rainy days (it could be a blockage or wrong drainage pipes)