Never run hot water when the garbage disposal is running. Use cold water to move the waste through the drain lines. Fats and grease will get hard when they congeal and will be easier to flush through the system if you use cold water. Hot water can melt the fat and grease and accumulate in the drainline. Also, almost all food matter can be fed into a disposal, however, things like shells, corn husks, and material with a high fiber content are no nos. Also, and I learned this the hard way, never allow glass, plastic or metal to go through the disposal. One time a plate broke in the bottom of my sink and before I knew what was happening I was buying a new garbage disposal and learning how to install it.

Routine maintenance is very easy. Try grinding egg shells or small bones. These will scrape away deposits of pulp and other nastiness. Putting ice in the disposal will clean out deposits and help get rid of smells. You can also do an elementary school science experiment. Who here has made a volcano? Pour some baking soda down the drain. Then slowly pour some white vinegar down the drain. Put the stopper in the sink, on both sides if its a double sink, to close off the drain. It’s like magic. Give it a few minutes to do its work and then pour hot water down the drain. Do this every couple months and it will save you a lot of headaches.

The simplest method of unclogging a drain is to pour hot water in.  In a sink, which might just be cloggede with grease, hot water should be enough to dissovle it away.  However, there are some other low cost options available if this doesn’t work.

Just about every house has a plunger either in the kitchen or bathroom.  Just put the plunger in the drain and push down a couple times.  This will create a vacuum that will clear whatever is blocking the drain.  However, be carefule in the winter.  If it is ice that is blocking the drain you may make things worse and possibly you could cause the pipe to burst.

When it is the u-section of the kitchen sink just do it like the Atlanta plumber pros.  Just cut off the water going to the sink.  Then remove the section of pipe and manually clear the blockage.  Once it is clear put the section of pipe back in place.  Make sure you create a good seal with plumbers tape.

A very popular option for an altanta plumber to unclog a drain is a chemical drain cleaner, such as Draino.  This will dissolve grease, hair, and other items in a drain.  Once the chemical has had time to work just pour hot water down the drain to clear away what remains.  Most modern plumbing has no problem handling this kind of treatment.  If you want to use something less harsh, try mixing soda and vinegar together to form a bicarbonate.  It’s less harsh on the environement though it might take more than one try to be effective.

To really make you feel like an Atlanta plumber try a plumber’s snake.  It’s great for larger jobs that can be more of a challenge.  You can use it on blocked kitchen sinks and toilets that the previously mentioned methods are not working for.

You should definitely try to do it yourself before calling an atlanta plumber.  While people often do more harm that they intend when they try to do things themselves, it’s worth learning to fix your own clogs because a plumber will expect you to pay emergency rates to come out and fix it for you.  And even then, they are going to go through the same list you just read.  It’s important to know how to do some simple around the house repairs when you own your own home.