How To Snake a Drain From Outside

If you experience a smelly odor outside your home or your sink consumes a long time to drain, you might be dealing with a blocked drain. Getting stuck in a situation where you have a clog in your kitchen sink or shower drain is enough to put a damper on your whole day. The last thing you might do is call the experts of plumbing in Stockton to resolve the issue. But if the main drain line isn’t immensely clogged, you might not need an expensive plumbing service, as you can repair it yourself by following some DIY steps. However, by using some simple tools, trusted methods, and a little practice, you can proficiently carry out away the pipe-clogging debris.

Let’s not wait and learn how to snake a drain from outside yourself without professional help. Here are the DIY steps outlined below to fix your clogged drain in no time!

When Would You Need To Snake Your Drain?

Getting to know how to snake your drain is beneficial and crucial for the times when you unexpectedly face a plumbing emergency. You might not know that a DRAIN SNAKE is also known as a HAND AUGER and is used to clean clogged smaller drains such as bathroom and kitchen sinks. Whereas for the larger drains, you might need a larger toilet auger to do the job.

Debris that easily clogs the smaller drains includes hair, food, and soap scum. These clogs are usually minor and can be easily cleaned using DIY steps for a drain snake fix. But if you suspect the clog is solid and hard to remove or the drain trap and pipes are clear despite having a clogged drain, you may have a severe plumbing problem that requires calling professionals for drain cleaning in Stockton.

DIY Steps To Follow To Snake Your Drain

Follow these guidelines to snake your drain and become an expert at solving your plumbing problems yourself. But if you have other plumbing issues like fixing water heaters or something like this, you have to call experts for water heater repair in Stockton, and DIYs will not work for that.

Tools Needed For The Job

You have already known the tool that will work for this job, and it is SNAKE DRAIN. But if the clog seems to be insignificant, you don’t have to spend money buying the tool. An alternate you can use in place of a snake drain is a coat hanger, and it will work just fine as a tool. Disassemble the coat hanger to make it long, keeping the original hook shape at the end. Once you made the proper shape, you are all set for catching any debris deep down in the drain. But if the clog is very intense, you might need to use a drain snake in that case. The cloth hanger won’t work.

Prepare To Snake

Some people think using a drain snake is so simple. They can use it the way they want, but it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. However, the drain snake required a proper procedure to follow while using it. If you are snaking an outside drain, choose the right blade or tip for the desired results. Be patient while using the tool, as impatiently carrying out the work will only lead to additional damage. Instead of using a wide blade, first, prepare and test the pipe clog with the half blade.

Put Snake Into Cleanout

Feed the snake into the cleanout putting it at the best angle to get it through all corners you encounter before reaching the drain clog. At any point, if you get stuck, move the snake anticlockwise. Once you pass all the corners, turn the power off and feed the snake until it reaches the blockage.

Removal of Snake From An Outside Cleanout

Once you clean the clog, you need to remove the snake from the drain. The process’s simplicity and complexity depend upon the type of snake you are using and how deep you are. Also, if you take out the snake too fastly, especially around the turns, it might create some possible issues like damaging the pipes. Furthermore, be careful while retracting the wire, too.