Summary:

• Sewer line clogs aren’t fun. Drain snakes extend your reach by letting you advance a long, thin tube or ribbon with a hooked end down into the line to break up blockages.
• Manual, electric, flat tape, and toilet snakes aren’t the same. Understanding how they work and when they’re used will help you pick the right tool for the job.
• DIY drain snaking is affordable, accessible, and often works for minor clogs near the surface. Sometimes it isn’t enough to clear the clog.
• Snaking your drain is risky, especially if you use an electric auger. It’s a smelly, uncomfortable job that can lead to pipe damage, injuries, floods, or sewage backups.
• Drain snakes aren’t always the right solution. You may need camera inspections, hydro-jetting, pipe descaling, or sewer line repairs instead.

Sewer line clogs are never fun. Even a partial blockage can slow down your drains, cause them to stop draining completely, send strange smells wafting into your home, or lead to sewage backups that damage your home, your belongings, and your health.

Customers call us all the time to ask if they should try to snake the line on their own when they suspect a clog is forming. This can be an effective way to clear the line, it’s also a very dirty job, and so much can go wrong along the way.

In this guide, we’ll lay out the process and the pros and cons of handling it on your own versus calling in a pro. If you have any questions, just give us a call!

1. What Is Sewer Line Snaking?

Clogs form in your household plumbing when waste, toilet paper, sludge, minerals, and sometimes non-biodegradable objects like wipes block the flow of water. When they’re close to the drain (e.g., hair in a shower), you can usually remove them by hand.

Sewer line snaking makes it possible to clear out clogs that form much further down into the line without digging it up. It involves advancing a long, flexible metal tube, cord, or ribbon called a “snake” or “auger” into the drain to reach the blockage.  

In most cases, you’ll follow this step-by-step process:

1. Feed the tip of the drain snake down into the drain.
2. Continue to advance it into the line until you feel resistance.
3. Rotate the snake to break up the clog or hook the snake onto it.
4. Continue working the cable until you no longer feel resistance.
5. Pull it back out of the drain and clean off any debris.
6. Flush the line with water a few times to confirm the clog is clear.

You’ll definitely want to wear gloves if you attempt a job like this, and it doesn’t hurt to put down a few towels or drop cloths around the drain, too. It may get messy!

Which Type of Drain Snake Should I Use?

The answer to this question will depend on the size, shape, and layout of your plumbing as well as the nature of the clog. You have a few different options:

• Manual snakes are best for shallow clogs and slow-draining tubs, sinks, or showers.
• Electric snakes are motorized, so they’re best for very deep or severe clogs. 
• Flat tape snakes may be safer for very narrow pipes and/or older plumbing.
• Toilet snakes are specifically engineered for safe use in and around toilets.

Nearly all augers or snakes will have a coiled or claw-like tip at the end. This is the part that grabs onto the material within the clog so you can break it apart.

Why Size Also Matters

It is extremely important to choose the right size snake. If the cord or ribbon is too big, it can damage or crack your pipes and cause leaks. If it’s too small, it won’t be strong enough to clear out the clog effectively.

For sinks, tubs, and showers, aim for a 1/4″ to 5/16″ cable. Use a 3/8″ to 1/2″ cable for toilets and main lines based on the circumference of your pipes. When in doubt, go with the smallest possible option.

2. Pros of DIY Snaking

It’s relatively safe to try manually snaking a basic or partial clog in the bathroom or kitchen—for example, a slow-draining tub or kitchen sink without a garbage disposal. The risk for you to do any serious damage is relatively low as long as your system isn’t very old.

Handling the job on your own does have benefits:

• You’ll save the cost of a service call and/or any related labor fees.
• You can rent or buy drain snakes at most local hardware stores.
• It takes very little time to clear a minor clog, which means no waiting.

While DIY snaking is worth a try, don’t be surprised if your efforts don’t pan out. That’s fairly common. You can always give us a call for tips or help along the way if you get stuck.

3. Cons of DIY Snaking

Snaking in general isn’t always the right solution for a clogged drain. There are cases where the blockage itself is just a side effect of a much more serious problem, like a cracked line or septic tank. Whatever the cause, DIYing it always raises the risk of something going wrong.

Here are five more great reasons to leave the job to us:

• Trying to force a snake through piping can damage or crack corroded lines.
• Working around sewage is a smelly, uncomfortable, and risky job at all times.
• Manual snakes are often too weak or not long enough to properly clear the line.
• Electric snakes are much harder to control, which raises the risk of injuries.
• If you break a rental snake, you’re on the hook for replacing it—and that’s expensive!

If you landed here because you ran into problems like flooding, sewage backups, or a stuck snake during the process, don’t panic! Stop, set down the snake, turn the water off to your home, and shut the door to the area. Then, call (650) 294-8592 for help.

Read More: 6 Signs Your Septic Tank is Full

4. When to Call a Professional

Some sewer line clogs are just too big, too risky, or too dangerous to handle by yourself. Our licensed plumbers have special tools, like motorized augers and infrared cameras, that let us identify and clear the worst offenders safely without causing any damage.

You should always call a plumber if:

• More than one drain clogs at once.
• Clogs keep coming back over and over again
• You can hear a loud gurgling noise from the drain
• Your plumbing system or sewer line hasn’t been inspected for over 10 years
• You smell, see, or even suspect that sewage and/or sewer gases are entering your home.

Calling in a licensed plumber is the only 100% effective way to diagnose the problem and guarantee that it gets fixed. With DIY, you’re doing a lot of guesswork along the way that may or may not actually be accurate.

What to Do If Sewage is Actively Backing Up Into Your Home

Severe clogs can lead to sewage backups across multiple drains in your home. If this happens to you, try your best to stay calm, even if that’s easier said than done. Follow the steps below to limit the mess and stop it from spreading until you get help.

1. First, shut off the water to your home immediately. 
2. Don’t run the water, use your fixtures, or use the toilet.
3. If you can close the door to the affected area, do that next.
4. Lay down a waterproof barrier like a heavy-duty garbage bag or plastic sheeting against the door. Extend it up the door and out a few inches in an L-shape.
5. Place rolled-up damp towels or sandbags on top of the plastic at the bottom of the door. This will help prevent sewage from spreading further into your home.
6. Open plenty of windows for ventilation, especially if the smell is severe. You don’t have to touch sewage for it to negatively affect your health!
7. Call us at (650) 294-8634 day or night for help. We’ll tell you what to do from there and get someone out to you right away.

It’s really important to keep the kids—including the furry ones—away from the area until it’s fixed. Sewage is especially tempting to dogs because it’s so smelly (yuck!).

5. Other Options for Clearing a Clog

We’ve talked a bit about the pros and cons of DIY snaking, but how can you be sure it’s even what needs to happen? The most honest answer, here, is that you can’t. It’s hard to know what fix is needed without seeing what’s going on inside the pipe.

That’s where services like these come in:

• Camera inspections. Feeding a thin scope with a camera into the line helps us diagnose problems like root intrusions and collapsed piping.
• Hydro jetting. We use a high-pressure stream of water to scour the inside of the line and clear away grease, sludge, pebbles, gravel, or small roots.
• Pipe descaling. The minerals in hard water can build up on the inner surface of your line over time, making it narrow. Descaling strips it away to restore the flow of water.
• Sewer line repair. If the line itself is broken or so corroded that it’s impossible to restore function safely, you might be looking at a repair job instead.

Our plumbers can also give you advice for preventing clogs in the future when they come out to handle tasks like these. The goal is to make sure you never need to deal with them again!

Caccia Home Services Clears Clogs Out Quickly

It’s worth trying to snake your sewer line if all you’re planning to do is use a manual snake to clear a minor clog. But when the blockage is deeper, keeps coming back, or you live in an older home with dated plumbing, we just don’t recommend it.

It costs far less to have us come out and handle the job for you than to fix the kind of damage that happens during a DIY snaking job gone wrong. So, why take the risk? Get help with clogs or schedule a sewer line inspection now by sending us a message.