It may happen that some valuable items can vanish down the drain in the blink of an eye. You might take off that beautiful engagement ring to clean the dishes and it just drops in the sink and is drained. Or an earring that slipped down from the bathroom sink while taking a bath? You might think that now they are lost forever. But, luckily you can retrieve them with no harm done. You just need a bit of DIY skills and some basic knowledge of your drain cleaning and plumbing. You might think of calling a drain cleaning service, but following are some ways that you can do it by yourself-
P-Trapping – As soon as see the item sliding into the drain, turn the faucet off immediately. It decreases the chances of item being carried away to the drain stack. If the faucet is not stopped at a point, the item will drop into the sewer line and you will never see it again. If you stop the water at a time, it is likely to get trapped under the sink.
However, as a matter of fact, jewel, is the most frequent item to get washed into the drain plumbing and it is actually one of the easiest things to retrieve. Metal and gemstones sink in the water and increases the chance that they will sink to the bottom of the plumbing trap. But make a note that you should try to retrieve any solid object that goes down the drain, even though it is of little or no value. If that object gets stuck in the drain, it will accumulate debris such as hair and will eventually cause a clog in your drain plumbing.
An Easy Retrieval – Check the trap under your sink. Basically, it is designed to keep the nasty sewer odors from backing up into your sink. It also gives a double benefit as it is a handy way to catch lost items. You need to open up the trap to get your valuables back. The exact procedure will differ depending on your type of drain pipe plumbing. However, some general principles apply, and the process shouldn’t be too difficult even for a relatively modest DIYer.
For this, first set a bucket under the trap to catch any water that spills out. Use a wrench or pliers to remove the ‘J’ part of the trap from the rest of the drain plumbing. In some of the systems that use plastic pipes, you just need to unscrew the slip nuts by the hand. When you know that the nuts are too loose, pull out the trap off the pipes and shake out your lost items. You can also take it as an opportunity to clean the trap, they often get filled with gunk over time, which can potentially harbor harmful bio film.
Put it back together – When you have your item back with you, just put the drain plumbing back together the same way it came apart. If you do not succeed on your own and need help to put it back on place call drain cleaning services in Monmouth County, or in your nearby areas. Delaying this reparations will cost you a lot. Hence be wise and choose a right plumber for setting it back altogether.