Look, we’ve all been there. You’re brushing your teeth and notice the sink isn’t draining like it should. Maybe there’s a puddle forming around your feet in the shower.
Your first thought is probably “great, another thing to deal with,” followed quickly by “can I fix this myself or do I need to call someone?”
I get it. Nobody wants to spend money on a plumber if they don’t have to.
But here’s the thing – sometimes trying to be the hero actually makes everything worse and costs you more in the long run. The trick is figuring out which battles you can win and which ones you should walk away from.
A Plumber Can Help With Your Drain Cleaning
When You Can Actually Fix It Yourself
Some drain problems are genuinely no big deal. If one sink is draining slowly but everything else in your house works fine, you’re probably looking at something simple. Hair, soap scum, maybe some food bits if we’re talking about the kitchen sink. Nothing too scary.
I’ve had good luck with just running hot water for a while. Not warm – hot. Sometimes that’s enough to break up whatever’s causing the slowdown, especially if it’s grease that hasn’t completely solidified yet. Costs nothing and takes five minutes.
For bathroom sinks, half the time it’s just hair wrapped around that little stopper mechanism. Pop it out, clean it off, put it back. Problem solved. Same goes for shower drains – sometimes you can actually see the hair clog right there at the surface. Gross? Yeah. Fixable? Also yeah.
The baking soda thing actually works sometimes, though not as dramatically as those cleaning videos make it look. Mix it with some regular dish soap, let it sit, then flush with hot water. It’s not magic, but it can help break down soap buildup and other organic stuff.
Don’t Get Carried Away
Here’s where people usually go wrong – they think if a little bit of something works, more must be better. Wrong. Dumping a whole bottle of drain cleaner down there isn’t going to magically dissolve a serious clog. It’s just going to create a toxic soup sitting in your pipes.
And those drain snakes you can buy at the hardware store? They’re fine for surface stuff, but they’re not going to reach whatever’s causing problems deep in your plumbing. If you can’t feel the clog with a basic snake, it’s probably beyond your reach anyway.
When to Throw in the Towel
Some situations are just screaming “call a professional” from the start. Multiple drains acting weird at the same time? That’s not a coincidence. That’s your main sewer line telling you it’s having problems, and trust me, you don’t want to mess around with that.
If water starts coming up in places where it shouldn’t – like using the kitchen sink makes the bathroom toilet gurgle – you’ve got bigger issues. This isn’t a simple clog anymore. This is your house’s plumbing system basically having a breakdown.
Bad smells are another red flag. Not just “ew, this drain needs cleaning” smells, but actual sewage odors. That’s usually a sign of something serious going on that you can’t see or reach. And honestly, do you really want to dig around in there trying to find the source?
The other thing that should make you pause is if you’ve already tried the basic stuff and nothing’s working. If hot water, gentle cleaning, and a basic snake haven’t made any difference, continuing to mess with it probably isn’t going to help. You might just be pushing the problem further down the line.
It’s Not Just About the Clog
Professional plumbers don’t just clear clogs – they figure out why you’re getting clogs in the first place. Maybe your pipes are old and corroded. Maybe tree roots are growing into your sewer line. Maybe the previous owner did some creative plumbing work that’s finally causing problems.
They’ve got cameras they can snake down your drains to actually see what’s going on. They’ve got powerful equipment that can clear stuff you could never reach. And if something goes wrong during the process, they’re insured for it.
Making the Call
Here’s my rule of thumb: if you’re dealing with one slow drain and you haven’t tried anything yet, sure, give the simple stuff a shot. But if it’s multiple drains, if the simple stuff doesn’t work, or if you’re dealing with smells or strange sounds, just call someone.
Yeah, it costs money. But you know what costs more money? Flooding your bathroom because you pushed a clog so far down it backed up into your house. Or damaging your pipes with too much chemical drain cleaner. Or spending your entire weekend trying to fix something that takes a professional an hour.
Sometimes being smart about home maintenance means knowing when you’re out of your league. Your time is worth something too, and there’s no shame in letting someone who does this for a living handle the gross, complicated stuff while you do literally anything else with your day.
