It’s an all too common occurrence. Someone flushes the wrong thing down their toilet one too many times, and we get a panicked call for emergency drain cleaning services. Following a few simple guidelines and using good judgment will help you avoid unpleasant bathroom plumbing issues.

Here are some tips we’ve put together to help you change your flushing habits.

Stop Flushing Personal Hygiene Items

There are many kinds of personal hygiene items that end up in toilets. Let’s start with the obvious. Tampon boxes may say that their product is safe to flush, but from a plumber’s perspective, that’s just not the case. The whole purpose of a tampon is to absorb liquid. When it does this, it expands. If it expands in your plumbing system, it’s going to block water from passing through and you’re going to experience clogged drains. It’s always better to throw away tampons in the trash.

Feminine hygiene products are the only bathroom items that should stay away from the toilet. Cleansing wipes are another no-no. These products will not break down in the water like toilet tissue. Instead, they will move through your pipes and drains intact. If they happen to catch on the side of the pipe, they will act as a net for other debris moving through the pipe. Eventually, this will turn into one gigantic clog that can cause an overflow or even put enough pressure on the pipe that its bursts.

We can go on and on why a toilet is not a trash can, but we think you get the point. Here is a list – albeit not a comprehensive one – of items that should never be flushed:

• Dental floss
• Q-tips
• Paper towels
• Condoms
• Diapers
• Sanitary pads

If it’s not toilet paper, don’t flush it! It’s really that simple.

Please Don’t Pour Grease in the Toilet

It may seem silly, but we get a lot of calls for clogged toilets that involve kitchen scraps. Maybe you have a guest bathroom in the hallway off your kitchen and think it’s okay to flush cooking oil or grease. It’s not! These substances will harm your pipes and cause expensive repairs. Don’t put these substances down your sink drains either. Rinse out a jar from your recyclables to store these substances. Or let them cool to the touch and pour them in a plastic bag to throw away.

Unused Medicines Don’t Belong in the Toilet

This is a harmful habit that takes people by surprise. After all, how can pharmaceuticals harm your plumbing system? And, what are you supposed to do with old medicines? We know keeping used medicine in a home with small children can be dangerous. However, there are better ways to dispose of them. When you flush them down the toilet, the chemicals in these products are released into sewage and waste treatment facilities. This can lead to serious health repercussions for a community.  Throw away unused medicine in the trash or call your doctor’s office or local pharmacy for better suggestions.

Remember, toilets serve one purpose. That’s it! If you treat your toilet like a trash can, your plumbing system will eventually rebel. That being said, if you need clogged drain service in Menlo Park, CA, give My Menlo Park Plumber Hero a call for immediate plumbing service.

Nothing stinks your house up faster than sewage smells. If you smell a rotten egg smell coming from a toilet or other drain, don’t ignore it. You need a plumber in Menlo Park to investigate the problem.

Reasons You’re Smelling that Smell

Sewer gas doesn’t have a smell. It’s methane, which is odorless. However, sewer gases as not entirely comprised of methane. They also contain hydrogen sulfide. This is the gas that gives off that rotten egg odor. Hydrogen sulfide gas occurs when organic matter breaks down and decomposes. In addition to methane and hydrogen sulfide, sewer gases also contain the toxic gases carbon dioxide and ammonia.

Why Your Toilet Doesn’t Always Smell Like Rotten Eggs

It’s a very good thing your toilet doesn’t always smell like rotten eggs. You wouldn’t be able to live in your home comfortably. One of the best things about modern plumbing is that when it’s working well it moves sewage and sewer gas in and out of the home unnoticed. So, if you smell that rotten egg odor coming from your pipes, toilets, or other drains, you know it’s because there’s something wrong with the plumbing.

How to Handle a Rotten Egg Smell

To get rid of the smell, a plumber needs to figure out why it’s in your home. There are three common reasons that homes smell like rotten eggs. Keep reading to learn more:

A dry trap is one of the most common reasons for this smell and easy to fix. When toilets or other drains aren’t used for a long time, the trap goes dry. A dry trap allows sewer gas to back up into the toilet and cause your home to smell like rotten eggs. Fixing this problems is as easy as pouring water down the toilet to let the trap fill back up.

• A clogged drain is another reason you might smell a bad odor. Try plunging the toilet if you suspect a clog is the issue. If you can’t clear the drain using a plunger, call us for professional drain cleaning services.
• A broken vent pipe or drain line is another reason your house might smell awful. This is a serious situation that requires emergency plumbing services. If a plumber discovers this is the problem, they’ll speak with you about remedying it asap.

When Do Sewer Smells Become Dangerous

A faint sewer smell isn’t hazardous. You want to get it looked at right away so that it’s not left untreated, but you’re not in real danger. It’s when the smell is very strong that deadly situations can happen, especially in small areas. Sewer gas also carries bacteria that you don’t want in your home. At My Menlo Park Plumber Hero, we recommend calling for plumbing service anytime you catch a whiff of this nasty odor.

For professional help you can count on, contact My Menlo Plumber Hero. We’re here for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our friendly plumbers will take care of the problem quickly and get your home smelling better in no time.

It’s no secret that plumbers appreciate plumbing tools that make it faster and easier to complete jobs. Our plumbers at My Menlo Park Plumber Hero are excited to share their love of technology with their customers. Here are some of the tools our customers might see their technician using at their home.

Better Pipe Inspection Equipment

Plumbers use pipe and drain inspection cameras that are self-contained and compact.  They the deal tool for drain and rooter inspection used by emergency plumbing companies in Menlo Park, CA.

Drain Snakes for Fast Drain Cleaning Service

Ask any plumber what is the most frustrating aspect of snaking drains, and it’s likely you’ll get the following response: Horrible support and bulky operation.

High-tech drain snake kits solves this problem for our plumbers. These kits are lighter and the most professional drain cleaners available. We like the hybrid designs that blend floor-based and handheld machines into one. Another feature of the drain snake kit is its ability to hold a longer charge, making it possible to use more often without recharging.

We snake drains frequently as part of our drain cleaning services and appreciate  machines that let us get our work done faster and with greater accuracy. Our customers appreciate the convenience and money-saving benefits, too.

Pipe Installation Services Take Less Time with the Pipe Handle

Another tool that local plumbers are adding to their fully-stocked vehicles is the Pipe Handle. This tool makes pipe installation and maintenance safer and easier. Designed to securely grip plastic piping from 3 – 8 inches in diameter, the Pipe Handle can adjust quickly to various pipe sizes. The easy transition allows Menlo Park plumbers to move from pipe to pipe with minimized marring. It’s also a great tool for keeping pipes aligned while glue dries after installation.

Sewer Locating Tools Keep Plumbing Service Affordable

Another factor that can drive up prices for customers is locating sewer lines and manholes. When homeowners need sewer or septic services, they often don’t know the location of the lines. Plumbers must find these components and sometimes it’s not as straightforward as one might imagine.

Using a magnetic locator makes it easier to find buried steel or iron objects at greater depths. Our plumbers use this tool to locate items such as:

• Valve boxes
• Drainage gates
• Paved over man-hole covers
• Property-marking pins

The sooner buried pipes are found, the faster repairs can be made.

Learn More About the Tools Used by Our Plumbers

You can learn more about all the tools used by our plumbers by contacting My Menlo Plumber Hero. From video camera inspection to hydro-jetting and electronic leak detection, plumbing tools make finding the root of a problem and solving it faster than ever before!

Do you have a drain that consistently clogs? If you’re always reaching for liquid drain cleaners, let us point you in an eco-friendlier direction. At My Menlo Park Plumber Hero, we always advise against store-bought liquid drain cleaners because of their corrosive nature. This can lead to expensive water pipe repair that can be avoided with changing your drain cleaning habits.

Natural Solutions to Unclog a Drain

There are a few ways that homeowners can attempt to clear a clogged shower drain, kitchen or bathroom sink. Here are three ways that we find to be most effective:

Manual cleaning: It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s an effective method for clearing surface clogs that are visible to the naked eye. Using your fingers or whole hand, do a quick sweep of the drain and clear the blockage. Make sure you throw it away in a trash can and do not flush it down the toilet.

Use the right plunger: Toilet clogs require a different kind of plunger than a sink or shower drain clog. The former requires a plunger with an extension flange while the latter needs a flat plunger to create the right amount of suction.

Natural drain cleaners: Create your own drain cleaning recipe by pouring a cup of baking soda into the drain followed by a cup of vinegar. Let the concoction foam and work its way down the drain for about 15 minutes. Next pour a cup of boiling water into the drain. You may need to repeat this process several times for severe clogs.

Call for Professional Drain Cleaning

Sometimes you may need professional drain cleaning for tough clogs that exist farther into the pipe. My Menlo Plumber Hero offers an all-natural hydro jet drain cleaning service that is highly effective at clearing the nastiest clogs for both secondary and main line clogs. Give us a call today to unclog a drain in your home at affordable rates by licensed, bonded, and local plumbers.

There are many reasons why you may have a clogged kitchen sink. At My Menlo Park Plumber Hero, our goal is to help our customers find the problem and make accurate repairs. Here are some of the more common reasons that kitchen sinks clog.

Too Much Grease in the Drains

Do you have a habit of dumping cooking grease down the kitchen drain? If so, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Many people do this on a regular basis, which is one reason why we get lots of calls for emergency drain cleaning service. Grease is a substance that hardens as it cools off. While it may not clog your drain right away, if you keep up this habit you’ll find yourself with a stopped-up sink.

No one likes greasy food, so one way to get rid of the grease is to pour it in a mason jar or other type of glass container. You can also use a strainer and a plastic bag. Place the strainer inside the bag and pour the grease into the strainer. Take the strainer out of the bag. What you’re left with is a bag full of grease that can be tied up and disposed of in the trash.

Broken Garbage Disposal

A garbage disposal that doesn’t work can cause clogs in the pipes that connect one side of the sink to the next. Call a plumber to fix the garbage disposal and then clear out the clog. The same rules apply to garbage disposals as sinks. Don’t pour greasy, fatty substances into the disposal. You may think the blades will chop everything up, but that’s not always the case.

Call for Professional Hydro Jet Drain Cleaning

A clogged kitchen sink may respond to a plunger, but if it doesn’t that means there is a blockage deeper in the pipe. Call a Menlo Park plumber for high-tech hydro jet drain cleaning to get rid of the clog quickly and for less money than you’d imagine.

My Menlo Park Plumber Hero serves the greater Menlo Park area offering 24 hour drain and rooter service.

Having a clogged drain or sewer can be stressful. Dealing with a plumbing problem can be even more stressful when you hire a fraudulent plumbing company to take care of your plumbing problem. My Menlo Park Plumber Hero is a reputable plumbing company with an impressive portfolio and licensed, qualified professionals. Before undertaking any job, we advise our clients to go through our reviews and even call our previous clients for reference.

Unfortunately, there are fraudulent companies and individuals in the Menlo Park plumbing industry. These fraudsters take advantage of clients’ need for urgent plumbing services to defraud them. Homeowners should keep an eye out for unscrupulous plumbing companies using the following tips.

Are You Being Singled Out?

First, pay attention to the type of questions a technician asks. Questions such as “Are you alone?” or “Is your husband home?” are possible indicators that you are dealing with a fraudster. Such people often target single women, widows, and the elderly.

Old Video Camera Inspection Videos

Many plumbing companies use video inspection to determine plumbing problems. Fraudulent plumbing companies use old videos or videos of other homeowners’ plumbing systems to convince unsuspecting homeowners to pay for drain cleaning services that they do not need. Ask for the live footage of your plumbing system and not a recorded version of it. Make sure the camera is actually recording during the video inspection.

Fraudulent Plumbing Claims

Be very vigilant about the “evidence” for drain cleaning problems in your plumbing system. Fraudulent plumbing professionals often exaggerate the extent of clients’ plumbing problems. Some may even intentionally clog your plumbing system during a routine inspection to force you to pay for services that you do not need.

Verify Credentials

Finally, be sure to conduct a background check on the company you intend to hire for drain cleaning services. This will allow you to obtain a second opinion before making a final decision on whom to hire.

My Menlo Park Plumber Hero is honest and transparent in all its dealings. We provide itemized invoices so that our clients know exactly what they pay for. In addition, we do not use aggressive sales tactics to convince our clients to pay for services or plumbing products that they do not need. Call us today for a free, no obligation quote.