You’ve read everywhere else what all the most common causes of blocked drains are. Things like grease, hair, soap, barbie doll heads, tree roots, food scraps – you know the drill. But take it from us – because we’ve seen thousands upon thousands of bunged-up drains, and fixed the lot of them. Blocked drains in Brisbane are actually a lot more interesting than that. Yes, we know what gets all the headlines. But if you’re here to dig a little deeper and try to unblock that drain, and hopefully have a little chuckle along the way as you learn something a little weirder than the norm, you’ve come to the right place.
The most common causes of blocked drains are:
- Fats oil and grease
- Hair
- Feminine hygiene products
- Food waste
- Tree roots
But perhaps your blockage is a little more unusual?
The weirdest causes of blocked drains
From the surprising to the downright bizarre, it turns out there are more causes of blocked drains than we thought. Our personal favourites that we thought you should know about before you try to shove or flush one of them down there? Read on:
1. Tissues
We flush mountains of toilet paper without giving it a second thought – but that’s because it’s designed for precisely that.
So don’t be fooled: every time you flush a facial tissue down there, you’re risking an eventual sewer drain blockage. That’s because, unlike loo paper, tissues aren’t designed to break down once they mix with water and get thrown around in the whirlpool of a flush. So don’t forget: bin those tissues rather than flush them.
2. Coffee
First things first: why on earth are you pouring your delicious coffee down the drain anyway?
But no – we’re not talking about your dissolvable instant brew. We’re talking about ground coffee, which we fully understand is a pain in the neck to get out of the pot and into the bin. But bear in mind that because the grounds don’t just dissolve, they can gradually build up in pipe corners and mingle with all the other gunk – and eventually become one of the key causes of blocked sink drains.
3. Animals
What?! Who on earth is flushing their Toy Poodle down the drain?
Again, we’re not pointing the finger at anyone here, but merely drawing your attention to an astonishing fact – plumbers all over Queensland, Brisbane and Australia consistently report that plenty of unfortunate critters who have met their demise are pulled out of clogged up drains.
Rats, mice and the pesky drain flies are the obvious ones because they really like the sniff of drain muck, but we’ve also seen snakes wedged down there. Yikes!
It’s not just the animals themselves that can cause your blocked drain, often we find cat litter in drains. Kitty litter is made from clay based materials that harden and catch other objects and material easily to build up a blockage. Talking about things that can harden in your drain pipes…
4. Concrete
We of course realise that you’re not making a cement mix only to pour it into your precious plumbing system.
But where amateur DIY enthusiasts do their thing, key mistakes are unfortunately made – and it’s most definitely not unheard of for plumbers to attend the site of some excitable home improvements that went, let’s say, a little bit wrong. Hot tip: it’s a lot easier to get wet cement into your outdoor plumbing than you might imagine.
The Drain Masters can unclog any drain
Did we mention mobile phones, cat litter, dirty underwear and false teeth? Yep: add them all to this collection of weirdest things plumbers find down blocked drains.
But rest assured, no matter what’s clogging up your precious drains, pipes & plumbing, the Drain Masters can definitely put it right – even if it’s weirder than anything you see listed above. Drain Masters Plumbing is Brisbane’s go-to local plumbers for all drain & plumbing-related problems across the entire Brisbane and surrounding areas including Annerley, Bardon, Chapel Hill, Wellington Point and beyond.
So get in touch today for immediate, friendly & affordable assistance.
