Want to keep on top of drain maintenance? To keep your drains unblocked and free-flowing, and to avoid expensive plumbing emergencies, there are a few key maintenance tasks you should be doing in each season.
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Let’s take a look at some top tips for drain maintenance in spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Spring
Key task: Inspect drains and pipes for damage caused over winter
Once winter ends, it’s a good idea to have your drains inspected just in case of any damage. The freezing temperatures, lashing winds and rain can cause or exacerbate hairline cracks in pipework. These can worsen over time, so it’s sensible to have them repaired now. You may even uncover signs of water damage which need addressing.
You can also take the opportunity for a little spring cleaning. This includes tasks like:
- Clearing out debris from gutters
- Giving drain covers a thorough clean
- Using solutions such as baking soda and vinegar, or more heavy duty specialist products, down the sink to clear out drains.
Summer
Key task: Booking in a drainage service appointment
Summer is a season when you can give yourself a break from many household maintenance tasks. However, you can also see it as a useful time to get ahead and make preparations for autumn and winter.
Remember that drainage and roofing professionals tend to be booked up in the colder, wetter and stormier months of the year – as this is when people tend to have the most problems. It’s also when the weather can disrupt work, so everything takes longer.
So if you need either a maintenance or emergency appointment from September onwards, you may struggle to find someone.
Booking in a drainage service nice and early ensures you get ahead of the crowd. This means you can head into autumn confident that you’re prepared for whatever the weather can throw at you.
Autumn
Key task: Clear away leaves from drain covers
Autumn can be a tough season for your outside drain covers. This is simply due to the volume of falling leaves, which can block your drain covers in a matter of hours on a particularly wet and windy day.
To keep them clear, set aside a few minutes every few days to sweep away leaves and deposit them in your garden recycling bin. You may even want to go further and use a leaf blower or other tools to clear your whole garden of fallen leaves.
Another important maintenance task in winter is to make sure your pipes are insulated ahead of winter. If the pipe is outside, in the shed or a cold, unheated place like the loft or an outbuilding, make sure lagging is fitted to stop the pipe from freezing. Otherwise, you could face burst pipes in sub-zero winter temperatures.
Winter
Key tasks: Insulate pipes and stop drains from freezing over
By the time winter rolls around, you should ideally have made all your preparations – a key task being to insulate any exposed pipework to prevent freezing and burst pipes.
But there are still a few things you need to be doing and checking up on. A prime example is your outside drain covers.
Even though fewer leaves may be falling in winter compared to autumn, it’s still important to keep those drain covers clear. If they become blocked with mud, leaves or other debris from the garden, the water won’t be able to drain away freely. This can potentially freeze, and ice formation over or in drains can lead to blockages or overflow.
And while it’s not a maintenance task, it could be sensible to reacquaint yourself with the location of your stopcock at the start of winter. Just in case of a burst pipe, flood or emergency drainage problem, it’ll be essential to know how to shut off the mains water.