Easily Clear A Blocked Pipe With A Drain Snake In Just 4 Steps

Plungers just aren’t effective. Fact! I'll tell you what is effective though ... a Drain Snake!

A drain auger or drain snake, despite its misleading name, is not a snake that resides in your household drains or pipes.

No, this handy and effective tool for clearing blocked pipes is trusted by plumbers and homeowners around the world.

This innovative equipment can be purchased at your local hardware store and it will save you the time of calling and waiting for a plumber to arrive.

How Does A Drain Snake Work?

No power outlet or PPE (besides gloves) are required to operate this piece of equipment. The tool is designed to push a long, flexible metallic coil down the drain whilst controlling the coil with a handle.

As the coil travels towards the blockage the handle is designed to twist therefore causing the auger head to bite deeper into any obstructions or blockages. Parts of the blockage will then break away and flush down the drain.

The snake allows the user to reach deeper within drain pipes, sinks and bathtub drains.

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1 - Insert Snake into the Drain Opening

Manually feed the auger end of your snake into the drain opening that is blocked. Begin the auger’s journey towards the blockage by slowly feeding the wire down the pipe.

Step 2 – Keep pushing snake until you feel the point of blockage

While unraveling the coil, make sure it continues to travel deeper through the pipe. When bending the auger around any traps or changes in direction in pipework, ensure to apply pressure as you are turning the handle.

If the handle doesn’t turn at that point do not keep pushing as you may cause damage to your pipes. When the auger passes the trap, keep pushing down the drain until you feel a thick resistance.

Step 3 – Rotate Snake and Attack Blockage

As you become certain that you’ve reached the blockage, slowly wind the handle forward and backwards.

This will cause the tip of the auger to penetrate and chop up any chunks of obstruction causing the blockage.

Continue to turn the handle until resistance lessens and the auger can travel past this point in the drain. If you hear unusual noises stop immediately. The harsh noises may be signalling you’re attacking the pipe.

Step 4 – Complete Drainage Process

Once the handle doesn’t feel any resistance and the water is flowing normally again, the drain is free. Confirm this by running water down the drain.

Now is time to rewind the drain snake back up the pipe. Careful when the auger head reaches the top of the pipe again. This is due to this head holding blockage chunks from the clearing process.

Dump nasty blockage debris away into a bucket or bin. Give the auger end a clean and store away properly.

You can repeat this process anytime you find a blocked drain.

Learning how to operate a drain snake could be a lifesaver and could save you hundreds of dollars! This is an effective quick-fix method for softer and easier to clear blockages.

However, if you are still struggling to resolve the blockage and want professional help, call Jetset Plumbing.

Our plumbers are driven by excellence, rewarding our customers with an unrivaled gold standard of service.

We are kept up to date with the latest news and products in the industry and we offer high pressure drain clearing and cleaning services with state of the art jetting machinery. One Call, Solves All.