I’ve been working as a licensed plumbing and drain specialist in Arizona for a little over a decade, and most of my days start the same way—someone calls in frustrated because a sink backed up again, or a shower is pooling water despite “everything they tried.” In my experience, the real value of professional drain cleaning isn’t just getting water flowing again; it’s understanding why that drain failed in the first place and stopping the same problem from resurfacing a month later.
Early in my career, I learned quickly that drains don’t clog randomly. A homeowner last spring was convinced tree roots were invading her line because the kitchen kept backing up. After running a camera, the issue turned out to be years of grease that had slowly hardened along the pipe walls. It looked solid enough to pass for a structural problem. That kind of buildup doesn’t happen overnight, and no amount of store-bought cleaner was going to touch it.
One mistake I see constantly is treating drains like garbage disposals for anything liquid-ish. Grease, soap residue, and even so-called “flushable” wipes behave very differently once they cool or travel farther down the line. I’ve pulled out rope-like tangles of wipes from pipes that were barely three years old. People are always surprised when I tell them those products don’t break down the way toilet paper does. They just travel until they meet resistance, then start collecting everything behind them.
Another situation that stuck with me involved a family dealing with recurring sewer smells. They had already paid for multiple quick cleanouts, but no one had slowed down enough to inspect the venting. A partial obstruction on the roof vent was creating pressure issues that mimicked a clog. Once that was cleared, the problem disappeared. That’s the difference between surface-level work and actually diagnosing a system.
After doing this long enough, I’ve developed strong opinions about chemical drain cleaners. I don’t recommend them. I’ve seen softened PVC, corroded metal, and injuries caused by splashback when someone tried to “boost” a cleaner with hot water. Mechanical cleaning—done correctly—is safer and far more effective. It removes buildup instead of just burning a hole through it.
If there’s one thing homeowners should take away from my experience, it’s that repeated clogs are a symptom, not the problem itself. A drain that needs attention every few weeks is telling you something about usage, pipe condition, or installation. Ignoring that message usually leads to bigger repairs down the road.
Drains are quiet until they aren’t. When they start acting up, the solution isn’t guessing—it’s understanding what’s happening inside the pipe and addressing it properly.