simon@scottishplumber.com, Author at Scottish Plumber

Does vinegar and baking soda unclog a drain?

The Scottish Plumber recommends Bio-Clean to most homeowners who are looking for an environmentally friendly and safe way to clean their drains.

We’ve heard of a lot of people attempting to use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda to unclog a slow drain, but unfortunately, we haven’t heard of much success using this method. And as the expert drain cleaners we are, many people have asked us for our opinion on this mixture.

From a scientific standpoint, it really doesn’t make any sense that a mixture of vinegar and baking soda would unclog a drain. When you mix the two, the acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with the sodium bicarbonate in baking soda, and this acid-meets-base combination creates the sudden surge of bubbles to form that we’re all familiar with (remember your 6th grade science experiment of making the volcano?).

The reaction is known as a “double replacement” reaction. The acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate form carbonic acid, which is a very weak acid and sometimes used in soft drinks. But the carbonic acid is unstable, and immediately falls apart into carbon dioxide and water in a decomposition reaction. The bubbles that form in the reaction come from the carbon dioxide being created- and if you’ve ever mixed vinegar and baking soda together, you’ve noticed how quickly the bubbles form… so the carbonic acid doesn’t last very long and is too weak to break down any materials in a clog such as hair or soap.

Some of the leftover baking soda is usually left in the pipe, which can actually make an existing clog worse if the reaction turns it into a sludge that doesn’t rinse away easily. The Scottish Plumber usually recommends Bio-Clean to most homeowners who are looking for an environmentally friendly and safe way to clean their drains. Bio-Clean uses natural bacteria and enzymes that break down organic material like hair and soap. Contact The Scottish Plumber for more information on how to get Bio-Clean, or visit the Bio-Clean page on our site.

The Frozen Pipes Are Calling…

The Chicago area has had some cold weather lately- with temperatures averaging around 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit and wind chill factors bringing it below zero in the last couple weeks. And with cold weather and especially chilling winds, comes frozen pipes.

It’s important to keep the water pipes in your home from freezing: frozen pipes can burst and cause thousands of dollars of damage in flooding and destroy drywall, furniture, flooring, and can even harm the foundation of a home. If you turn on your tap and water does not come out or it’s in a very slow trickle, your pipes may be frozen. If they have already burst and you have flooding, shut off your water main immediately and all gas or electric water appliances, such as a water heater, washer, or dishwasher, and call The Scottish Plumber immediately.

Do not attempt to thaw the pipes on your own- many fires are started in homes every year by attempts to thaw pipes with open flames or unattended electrical appliances. Licensed plumbers have specialty pipe thawing equipment that is safe and more effective.

Follow these tips to prevent your pipes from freezing when temperatures get as low as they have been this winter:

1. Close outside vents that can let in cold air: check your crawlspace, laundry room, and under the kitchen sink for open vents.
2. Make sure pipes along an exterior wall have access to the heat in the house. For example, if the water pipe for your kitchen sink is along an exterior wall of the house, keep the cabinet door open so heat from the house can enter the cabinet and warm the pipe.
3. When insulating pipes, make sure you insulate them between the cold outside of the house and the warmth from the inside of the house. Don’t put the insulation between the pipe and the indoors, which will block the heat from reaching it.
4. Check to see if you have water pipes on walls or ceilings/floors that are attached to the garage. The garage can get just as cold as the outside, so make sure these pipes are well-insulated.
5. At night, when temperatures drop and everyone is asleep and not running the faucets, pour a little table salt down the drain to keep the drain from freezing, and let a slow drip or trickle of water flow out of the faucet to keep the water moving.
6. Keep doors to crawlspaces open so heat from the rest of the home can enter the crawlspace and keep a pipe from freezing.
7. If you’re going on vacation or leaving the home for an extended period of time, don’t turn the heat completely off. Keep it from 55-60 degrees, and open all of the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, crawlspace doors, and make sure the basement also has access to the home’s heat.

MacBanana Chocolate Chip Scones

This is a sweet and chocolatey scone, but not too sweet or filling; with a cake-like consistency and a hint of banana flavor.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 ripe mashed banana
1 large egg
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease the center of a baking sheet. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With a pastry blender, cut the butter or margarine into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. In a separate small bowl, stir together the egg, mashed banana, buttermilk and vanilla extract until the consistency is relatively even.

Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and combine until a dough forms. The dough will be sticky. Spread the dough into the center of the cookie sheet and form it into a 9-inch circle. With a floured knife, cut the circle into 8 wedges, but do not separate them. Bake for 19-21 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the circle comes out clean.

Remove and place on a cooking rack- you may have to re-cut the wedges before transferring. Enjoy!

Water Heaters “cash for clunkers” program

Most homeowners don’t start thinking about their water heater until it suddenly stops working; which means they don’t have much time to shop around for the best deal and the most energy efficient model on the market. When there’s no hot water in your home and you’re aching for a nice hot shower, you’ll take any water heater you can get as long as it’s working, right?

Between 13% and 17% of residential energy consumption in the United States comes from water heaters- that’s a pretty big portion of our energy usage. And like the “cash for clunkers” government program is urging motorists (with generous tax incentives) to upgrade their gas-guzzling vehicles for more efficient cars, the Federal Government is also about to unveil a “cash for clunkers appliances” program that provides tax rebates for upgrading energy-sucking appliances like water heaters, dishwashers, refrigerators and washer/dryers for units with better EnergyStar ratings. Some retailers will even be able to give a discount up to 25% of the appliance cost right there at the cash register!

So does this mean homeowners should just hope that if their water heater is going to fail soon, it dies in 2010 so they can take advantage of the program? No! Upgrading your old water heater now can save you even more money. Not only does it mean you get to take part in the limited time tax incentive program, but a more energy efficient water heater can save you $200-$300 a year in energy costs on your gas or electric bill. That means that if you buy a water heater during this “cash for clunkers appliances” program, your investment could pay itself off in the first year or two; then just continue to save you more money than you are spending now to keep your old water heater going.

Here is an article in the Chicago Sun-Times covering the news of the program; and here is a detailed article with more information on water heaters and energy factors from the US Department of Energy. Contact The Scottish Plumber if you’re thinking about taking part in this program to save some money on a new water heater, and we’re going to keep our ears to the tracks for when the program begins. We can take a look at your current water heater and calculate about how much more efficient several options of newer models will be and how much money you could save.

It’s much less stressful to pick out a new water heater while your current water heater is still working, so you’re not worried where your next hot shower is going to come from!

Sump Pump or Sewage Ejector?

Many people have heard of sump pumps, but not many people know about sewer ejectors- also called sewage ejector pumps. And with all of the different makes and models of pumps out there for both sump pumps and sewage ejectors, it can be hard to tell which you have in your home without the help of a professional.

So what’s the difference between a sump pump and a sewer ejector? A sump pump deals mostly with excess water in and around a basement, to control and prevent flooding. By having a properly dug sump pump pit in the lowest area of the basement of a home, excess water from the ground, rainwater, and storm water is collected in the pit and pumped by the sump pump out of the home and into a storm sewer or a city’s wastewater system. It can even pump away the excess water in the soil around the foundation of a home, to prevent basement moisture, mold, and flooding.

The actual wastewater from the sinks, tubs, and showers in most homes is drained into the sanitary sewer or city’s sewage system by a series of drains and pipes powered simply by gravity. However, in some situations a drain, laundry line, tub or other wastewater creator can be located too low in the home to drain by gravity. This is when the home needs a sewage ejector pump to force the wastewater into the sanitary sewer.

If you have a sewer ejector in your home and sewer gases are leaking out of the pit and causing a sewage smell in your basement, it may not be properly installed or maintained. The covers for older sewage ejector pumps are commonly made out of steel and can corrode and lose their airtight seal over the years. If you notice sewer gas smells near your pump, contact The Scottish Plumber right away to have it inspected and make sure it’s in working order. The presence of sewage in a home that is not pumping it out of the basement effectively is a concern for the health and safety of the home’s occupants.

Tree roots: winter is their growing season

Some of our most common services involve clearing tree roots from sewer pipes and repairing the damage caused by the infiltration of tree roots. The pipes that take a home’s sewer waste away from the building and into the city sewage system are the most vulnerable to tree root intrusion. A tree’s roots can extend into the surrounding area up to 2.5 times the height of the tree, and fan out with hair-like tentacles searching for water and nutrients from the soil. I’ve found tree roots popping up through the ground into my compost heap from a tree 25 feet away: its radar found the higher-level nutrients of the compost and tentacled its way up through the surface!

In the winter, the tree appears dormant because it has shed its leaves and isn’t receiving any energy from the sun. But it still needs water to survive through the winter, so much of the tree’s energy is spent growing its roots in search of water and oxygen (tree roots require oxygen to grow, so they aren’t often found in pipes that are completely filled with water and prefer sewer lines, which have low levels of water in them when not in use). The roots are attracted by the warmth, water, oxygen and nutrients found in underground sewer pipes and are strong enough to reach through joints, cracks and fissures in the pipe. The flow of warmer water through the pipe causes water vapor to escape into the cold soil surrounding the pipe: ringing the dinner bell for the tree.

piperoots — Tree roots reaching through a pipe joint (photo courtesy of ehow.com)

Once a small tree root gains access, it can enlarge, spread, and create a clog after it expands and traps debris in the pipe. Since it’s out of their reach, there isn’t much a homeowner can do to prevent tree root growth in a home until they recognize that it’s a problem. If your drainage system becomes slow because of a tree root problem, some of the first things you might notice can include a gurgling system from your toilet or wet areas around floor drains after running a washing machine. If the tree root infiltration is low and slow-moving, it can be cost effective for The Scottish Plumber to simply trim the roots from the inside of the pipe on a regular basis- using high-pressure water jetting or a sewer rodding machine.

If tree root infiltration becomes chronic, it might be wise to replace the pipe with a material that is more resistant to tree roots (such as PVC, which has tighter joints that are harder for roots to penetrate), or to re-line the pipe with trenchless technology, where the pipe is re-lined from the inside with a strong, root-resistant epoxy material. This process is often much more cost-effective than replacing the entire pipe, can extend the life-span of an existing pipe for decades, and doesn’t require a yard to be dug up to access the pipes.

Finish winterizing: have you disconnected your garden hose?

Most of us in the Chicago area may have looked out our windows today and saw the first snow flurries of the season. It was a pretty sight to see the fluffy flurries fluttering through the air… and an even prettier sight to see that they weren’t really sticking to the ground…

With the temperatures dropping and snow in the air, it’s a good time to finish some last-minute winterizing around your house in regards to pipes and drains. It’s important to keep water out of exterior pipe systems that won’t be used in the winter because trapped water can freeze and expand, causing cracks and breaks and even bursting pipes.

After using the garden hose all summer, it’s easy to overlook it when the temperature drops and to leave it connected to an outdoor faucet or spigot. Don’t do this! Make sure you disconnect any garden hoses and tighten the faucet to be sure the water is turned off for the winter. If you leave a garden hose attached, a small amount of water can stay lodged in the pipe by the spigot and will quickly freeze. This ice can damage your faucet and pipe: so prevent a costly repair by disconnecting that hose today!

Don’t put it down your drain: cooking oil and grease

We all know we’re not supposed to pour used cooking oil, bacon fat, or other grease products down the drain, but we do it anyway. And The Scottish Plumber knows we do it anyway because we are often called to open kitchen drains when they get clogged, and remove globs and globs of solidified cooking grease. We recently replaced some kitchen pipes for a remodeling project and peered through a section of drainpipe after it was removed. A layer of solidified oils and fats had reduced the width of the pipe to only 3/4 of an inch. It was only a matter of time before a small piece of food lodged itself in the grease and caused a clog!

Even if you run lots of hot water and soap down the drain while pouring the oil, it’s still going to collect on the pipe walls and turn into a sludge that is hard to remove from your pipes- often requiring high-pressure water jetting. But if we’re not supposed to pour greasy and oily substances down our drains, then what do we do with them? During the Great Depression, families would often re-use their cooking oil several times before discarding it; and during WWII, families used to save their bacon fat in jars and donate them to the war effort- where factories would use the fat to create glycerin for explosives.

Today, you can still use your cooking oil more than once if it was lightly used and you strain it through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Some municipalities also have recycling centers or drop-off points for used cooking oil to be safely disposed or re-used. Keep a sealable container like a peanut butter jar or pickle jar (either glass or plastic if you’re afraid glass will break) near your sink, and after the oil has cooled enough (especially if you’re using a plastic bottle- you don’t want to melt the plastic), carefully pour the grease into the jar. When the jar is full you can throw it in the garbage if it’s small, or find a disposal location.

You can use the grease in a compost heap if you have one, or take it to your local landful or hazardous waste facility (the same place you would take paints, batteries, chemicals and CFL bulbs). Ask your local city government or municipality office for locations to dispose of used cooking oil or grease. Some restaurants will even take the oil to include it with their own disposed oil for recycling- restaurants that use large quantities of oil for frying are required to pay for a service that picks up their used oil and disposes of it safely- ask a restaurant if you can bring yours to include in their disposed oil.

MacAlmond Crumb Scones

The almond extract in these scones make them sweet-tasting and cookie-like, and the crunchy crumb topping is simply delicious! They are baked together in a circle, so the insides of the scones stay incredibly moist. Definitely one of our favorites so far!

Ingredients:
Crumb Topping:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine – firm
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons sliced, chopped, or toasted almonds

Scones:
½ cup butter or margarine (one stick) – firm
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped, sliced, or toasted almonds
1 egg
¼ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup milk or half and half

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. To prepare the crumb topping, cut the butter/margarine into the flour, sugar and almonds, until crumbly; set aside.

For the scones, cut the butter/margarine into the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt with a pastry blender/dough cutter in a large bowl until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the almonds. Stir in the egg, almond extract, and a splash of the milk/half and half. Slowly add the milk/half and half and continue to stir- add only enough of the milk/half and half to make the dough stick together and leave the sides of the bowl to form a bowl. Don’t let it get too moist or sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, roll it in flour to coat, and knead it 10 times. Pat or roll the dough into a 9-inch circle, then carefully transfer it to an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with the crumb topping, and lightly press it into the dough to stick. Cut into 8 wedges with a floured knife, but do not separate the wedges. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Insert a toothpick into the center of the circle to be sure- the toothpick should come out mostly clean.

Immediately remove from the cookie sheet, carefully separate the wedges, and place on a cooking rack. If needed, slice them again with the knife to help separate them. Serve warm.

Don’t let Thanksgiving overwork your disposal

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and families across the country are gathering together and cooking huge meals… then cleaning up after those meals and sending bits of turkey fat, cranberry sauce, and potatoes down their garbage disposals. As drain cleaners and plumbers, one of our busiest days of the year is the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of Black Friday shopping, a lot of people in the Chicago area stand over clogged kitchen sinks, calling us to come out and clear their drains.

Taking care of a lot of holiday meal preparation (and cleaning up the aftermath) near the kitchen sink is a huge temptation to send large pieces of food into the garbage disposal and down the drain. Even the toughest disposals on the market today still only turn food into a mush, which makes it easier to slide down a drain, but it can never be a liquid- which means overloading a drain with too much food can clog it. Especially starchy foods like potato peelings, which can expand and thicken the water around it; and celery, which is stringy and hard for a disposal to thoroughly chop up- it can be pretty easy to overwork a disposal and clog a drain on Thanksgiving Day.

You can prevent this by limiting the amount of food you send down the disposal. Avoid pouring gravy down the drain, turkey parts, skins, bones, and other greasy substances which can quickly build up and cause a clog. Throw meat and bones in the trash in a tightly-sealed bag to keep raccoons and other animals from sniffing it out and tearing through it in the trash can. Vegetables and other large pieces of food should be thrown in the trash. Or if you have a garden, you may want to look into creating a small compost heap or sealed compost bin. Even in cold weather, organic materials like fruits and vegetables (just about any food except meats and greases) can be composted and turned into great fertilizer for a garden.

With family in town and kids visiting from college with full laundry baskets a lot more people are doing laundry and taking showers this weekend, so take care of your drains and watch for signs of slow-moving water.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Scottish Plumber!