Allowing your drains to clog or get blocked is a big issue, so don’t put it off any longer. Make contact with a plumber. But, if you want to do it yourself, how much does drain cleaner cost? Is drain cleaner expensive, and if so, are there any alternatives? We’ll see if we can figure it out right here. So pull up a chair and get ready to learn about the cost of drain cleaning.
Drain cleaner can be both cheap and expensive, depending on the brand. Including the cleaning of the Kitchen, toilet, or laundry area, you can expect the total amount of Drain cleaner to cost you around $10-$80.
Drain cleaner or acid?
Drain cleaners, such as sodium hydroxide, NaOH (Drano, Liquid Plumber, and others), are mass-produced. These are accessible at hardware shops, home centers, and grocery stores. Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) is more challenging to get, and professional plumbing vendors always have it. But it may be more challenging to locate in other places. Muriatic acid is approximately 50–100% more costly per gallon. However, either is much less expensive than hiring a plumber.
The two main distinctions are:
- Acids will corrode metal pipes, whereas sodium hydroxide will not.
- Safety concerns are different.
As NaOH burns your skin, it becomes more concentrated in your eyes and becomes more challenging to detect. Acids have a particular safety problem in that adding water to solid acids generates enormous quantities of heat. Thus, always add acid to water rather than water to acid.
Is Drain Cleaner Expensive – Make the Most of Your Money
Even if you avoid causing damage to your pipes or jeopardizing your health, there is no assurance that a Drain cleaner will be successful. And, if a simple hairball or grease accumulation doesn’t cause your blockage, the drain cleaner is unlikely to assist.
One of the most important benefits of hiring a plumber to clear a drain is determining the source of the blockage. Using a liquid Drain cleaner is a total waste of money if there is a break in a pipe that allows additional debris to push inside or if the underlying reason is situated more profound in your drainage system.
Why do you need drain cleaning?
One of the most frequent plumbing issues that homeowners face is clogged drains. In some instances, you may be able to unclog the drains in your kitchen and bathroom yourself because there are many DIY tools to help you in this situation.
In more severe blockages, the best solution is to speak with an experienced, qualified plumber. A professional plumber can use their professional equipment to remove your clogged drain.
Here are a few more drain cleaning alternatives, as well as an estimate of the expenses involved with each technique.
Sewer Snakes are snakes that dwell in sewers.
The most frequent remedy for clogged pipes is the employment of a sewage snake. It is somewhat more potent than the average homeowner’s plumbing snake. And it can remove all the hair and other material that has gotten stuck in your drain pipes.
Using a rooter machine in tandem, the combo is excellent for removing any tree roots that have grown into your pipes over time.
The cost of hiring a professional to snake your clogged pipes varies based on where the problem is situated. And the severity of the backlog. Minor house clogs are often estimated to cost between $100 to $275. But this includes labor in the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room, among other places.
The placement of a clog within the pipe influences the overall drain cleaning cost, and the severity of the obstruction also affects the situation. Plumbers may also charge a service fee. Check with the technician before agreeing on a price. This needs to determine whether the cost is included in the estimate or if it will be added later.
It is also possible that snakes will be used to clean big plumbing lines, which is positive. If this is the case, your pay will increase, ranging from approximately $180 to more than $400, depending on the quantity of work you complete.
For example, you may get a higher estimate for work that requires the removal of your toilet as well as the use of more powerful cleaning equipment.
Cabling
When your toilet, tub, or sink drain becomes clogged, a drain snake is a common tool for unclogging it. Scanning, also known as cabling, is the act of putting a long, thin, flexible auger into a building’s drainpipe.
It consists of a metal coil twisted downward until it may dislodge or latch onto an obstacle and be lifted out of the way.
Drain snakes, both manual and electric, are available at your local hardware shop. The risk of utilizing a drain snake if you don’t have much experience cleaning drains is that you will damage your pipes in the process. It is best to contact a reliable plumbing company for help with this kind of obstruction.
Inspection Making Use of a Camera
A specialist will turn to a camera inspection if drain cleaners and a sewage snake fail to cure the issue. A technician may use a camera to obtain a good picture of what’s going on within your pipes and utilize that knowledge to devise a solution.
Cameras may also assist in the recovery of lost goods, such as wedding rings that have fallen into drains.
A camera inspection may cost anywhere from $100 to $800. And it can account for a large part of the total cost of drain cleaning services.
The average cost of a camera inspection is between $250 and $500. Among other variables, the final cost is dependent on the length of the pipe. The cost may also differ based on the recording method employed (video or still images). It’s also worth noting that these are only the costs of the camera examination. This price does not include any extra labor or solutions required after the images have returned a result.
Some plumbers may offer discounts if you combine services. For example, snaking and camera inspection. So ask about the price at your initial meeting with a prospective provider. Other plumbers may charge by the hour, which may include watching the video off-site in addition to the first consultation.
Camera inspections aren’t only for when problems arise; they’re also helpful tools throughout a house inspection. Though they’re not usually included. Before purchasing a home, get advice from your real estate agent or a local plumber. If the house was built more than 25 years ago, it is highly advised that a video inspection be conducted on the property.
Hydro jetting.
Hydro jetting is another way to clean pipelines. Hydro-jetting is the process of pushing high-pressure water through your home’s plumbing system using a specialized hose.
When a plumber conducts hydro jetting, they will first insert a camera into your pipes to inspect for damage that the high-pressure cleaning technique may aggravate. Following that, a plumber will insert the hose into your drain, which is usually done via a cleanout valve. The hose is connected to a water tank that is pressurized and produces water pressure.
Clogs may develop very difficult to remove and are often made of dirt, grease, and other objects. Such as tree roots or more oversized items that have been flushed down the toilet. Hydro jetting includes the passage of a high-pressure jet of water through your clogged pipes, similar to power washing. Everything that comes in its path, including dirt and tree root systems, is demolished and disassembled.
Prices for hydro jetting usually begin at $350 and may reach over $600 per hour. A hydro-jetting job may take up to two hours to complete, so keep this in mind if your plumber charges by the hour. The length of the pipeline that has to be cleaned may also affect the cost of your drain cleaning.
Even if you are tempted to save money by performing your hydro-jetting, this is not recommended. Calling a professional is always advised since doing it incorrectly may cause further damage to your pipes and your home.
Sewer line replacement
If none of the techniques listed above are effective, the only alternative option is to replace the sewage line. Many reasons behind this include:
- Soil moving and settling.
- Earth freezing in cold weather.
- A severely clogged drain caused by grease or a large object.
- Corrosion, a large number of tree roots, and leakage are among the other reasons.
Repairs may take many days since you need to pull out and expose the pipe.
Sewer line replacement is the most expensive of the instances presented here due to the extensive scope of the work required. Costs range from about $1,000 to $25,000, with more complex projects costing up to $70,000. The cost is decided by the depth of the lines and the length of the pipe that may be rebuilt to be altered.
Please remember that digging will only place around the broken pipe if your issue requires sewer line repair. It also may cause minor damage to your yard. After the fact, some homeowners choose to hire a landscaping company, which must be included in the total price.
Conclusion
Clogged drains are something no one expects, yet they occasionally arise if you own a home. It is essential to have emergency funds set aside in case you need repairs, an inspection, or sewage line replacement in the future. Also, remember that drain cleaner may be both cheap and expensive, that the cost may vary depending on the brand and yet not work the way you expected. So it’s always better to call a plumber and handle it professionally.