Drains are hidden heroes in your home. If you’re lucky, you can go for years  without thinking about them, but when dirty sink water suddenly won’t go away or  a toilet won’t flush, they can be a major frustration. A plugged drain certainly  demands attention, but fixing it is probably something you can do yourself.  You’ll get faster results than calling a pro, and you’ll save money, too.

Successfully unclogging drains depends on a few simple tools and knowledge of  the layout of pipes hidden in your home.

Each drain connects with horizontal pipes that meet a vertical section of the  system called the “stack.” The top of the stack goes through the roof, and acts  as an air vent. The horizontal pipes travel down and out of your home, taking  wastewater with them. Poor drain performance can be caused by problems in either  the drain side of the equation or sometimes, the vent side. Even if water is  free to flow through pipes, for proper performance the water must be replaced by  air drawn into the system through the rooftop vent.

Certain parts of every drain system are prone to blockage, so it pays to  understand where typical trouble zones might exist before an emergency  arises.

Three Hotspots for Clogs

Plugged drains are most likely to occur in three specific places: curved  sections of pipes called “traps” that exist underneath sinks, tubs and showers;  the internal passages within a toilet; or somewhere inside the main drainpipe  leading away from your home.

Before you spend a lot of time trying to unplug a sink or toilet, and  regardless of where the blockage seems to be located, start with a simple check:  Run some water down the other drains in your house. Do the others flow freely?  If not, your trouble probably involves more than meets the eye and could  actually be part of a systemic problem.

Before you try to clear what looks like a small, localized blockage, take a  quick look at the big picture. You’ll either know you’re on the right track or  save yourself from wasting time trying to solve the wrong problem.

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