4 Signs Your Drains Need a Ninja’s Help

Warning Signs Your Drains Require Professional Cleaning

Sewage backing up: As a rule, waste should go only one direction – away from your home. When it reverses course, something is obviously in the way. Tree roots are a common culprit of sewage back-ups. Trees seeking nutrients can squeeze their tiny tendrils through cracks and holes in your drain line to absorb water and, well, other stuff. Once in your drain, the roots will grow until they’re the size of the pipe. Wastewater can get past the root-y obstruction, forcing the sewage back up your drains. This is an extremely unsanitary situation, so be quick like a ninja and schedule an emergency repair.

A foul odor: Think about all the funky things you wash down your drains – grease, dead skin cells, food particles. It’s no wonder they’ll eventually give off an unpleasant odor. It’s not only the things you put down your sink and shower drains; it’s the bacteria eating all that organic matter in them. Bacteria give off hydrogen sulfide gas. So, if your drains smell like rotten eggs, that could be gassy bacteria. Gross!

But there is another possible reason for that funky rotten egg aroma, and it has nothing to do with a clog. It could be that the P-trap dried out. The P-trap is the curved section of pipe beneath the sink. It is designed always to contain water to seal out dangerous sewer gas. If your sink has been neglected for a long time, the water may have evaporated, allowing gas to enter your home. Try running the water for a few seconds to see if that eliminates the smell.

Gurgling: Gurgling sounds could indicate a partially clogged drain. In a way, this strange sound is helpful because it can help you identify the clog’s location. If you turn on the sink and the sink drain gurgles, you can bet your bottom dollar that the clog is in the sink drain. However, if running the kitchen faucet causes the bathroom sink drain to gurgle, you likely have a clog in the main sewer line. Either way, you’ll need a plumber with a ninja-like ability to find and dispatch the enemy (clog).

Slow drains: If you’re showering in ankle-deep water or if rinsing the dishes fills the bottom of the sink basin, obviously something is wrong. If the problem is isolated to one drain, you may be able to solve the partial clog yourself using a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. This combination produces a fizzy reaction that may be enough to dissolve minor clogs without damaging your drains (like a chemical drain cleaner would). And in the case of a bathtub, sometimes all it takes is pulling a clump of hair out of the drain with a bent clothes hanger. But if multiple drains are clogged, you likely have a blockage deep in the sewer line that requires professional solutions.

How Ninjas Eliminate Clogs

If you’ve tried clearing the clog on your own, but your drains are still slow, turn to the pros at Ninja Plumbing. We use advanced technology to identify the cause of the clog so we can determine the best course of action, like hydro-jetting. Hydro-jetting is a process that uses pressurized water to blast through grease, tree roots, and other obstructions to free up your sewer line. One way or another, we’ll get your drains flowing again!