A drain that clogs once is a nuisance. A drain that clogs every few weeks is telling you something is wrong further down the line. Most homeowners reach for Drano and call it fixed — but recurring clogs usually point to a bigger problem that liquid drain cleaners can’t touch.
Here’s what actually causes drains to keep blocking up, and what you can do about each one.
Grease and Cooking Oil Buildup
Grease doesn’t wash down the drain. It flows out as a liquid when it’s hot, then cools and solidifies on the inside of your pipes. Over time, that layer gets thicker and starts catching food particles, soap, and anything else that goes down the drain. Once it starts, it compounds fast.
The fix: wipe pans out with a paper towel before washing, and pour cooking oil into a container to trash rather than down the sink. Hot water doesn’t help as much as people think — it just moves the grease further down the pipe before it re-solidifies.
Hair and Soap Scum in Bathroom Drains
Hair and soap residue are the main culprits in shower and bathtub drains. Hair tangles around the drain stopper, soap scum binds it together, and before long you’ve got a solid mass that barely lets water through.
A $5 mesh drain strainer catches most of the hair before it becomes a problem. Clean it every week or two. This is the single most effective thing you can do for a bathroom drain that keeps backing up.
Food Scraps Getting Past the Garbage Disposal
Garbage disposals handle a lot, but some things shouldn’t go in at all. Rice and pasta expand in water and form a sticky paste inside your pipes. Coffee grounds clump together and settle. Fibrous foods like celery or artichokes can tangle around the disposal’s blades and make it past in chunks.
When in doubt, put it in the trash. Run cold water for 30 seconds before and after using the disposal to flush everything through.
Foreign Objects
Bottle caps, small toys, cotton swabs, dental floss — all of these end up in drains and create partial blockages that catch everything else coming through. Toilets are especially vulnerable to items that seem small enough to flush but aren’t.
If you’ve got kids, drain covers on tubs and sinks are worth the small investment.
Foreign Objects Clogging Drains and How to Prevent Them
If your clogs are happening in multiple drains at once, or you’re seeing sewage backup in floor drains, the problem might not be inside your home at all. Tree roots grow toward moisture and can penetrate sewer lines through small cracks or joint gaps. Once they’re in, they grow and eventually block the line completely.
This one needs a camera inspection to confirm and professional clearing or repair to fix. Liquid drain cleaners do nothing against tree roots.
Old or Damaged Pipes
Older homes in Norco and the Inland Empire often still have galvanized steel pipes that have been slowly corroding for decades. Corroded pipes have rough interior walls that catch debris much more easily than smooth copper or PEX. If your home is more than 40 years old and you’re fighting recurring clogs throughout the house, the pipes themselves might be the issue.
What Actually Fixes a Recurring Clog
Drain snaking can clear a blockage, but if the underlying cause is grease buildup, root intrusion, or pipe damage, it’ll be back. Hydrojetting — which uses high-pressure water to scour the inside of the pipe — does a much more thorough job and can clear buildup that a snake just pokes through.
If you’ve got a drain that won’t stay clear, KDP Plumbing serves Norco, Corona, Riverside, and the surrounding area. Call us at (951) 833-3006 and we can figure out what’s actually going on.