Ask the Builder: Prevent Clogged Drains and Nasty Flies

I can tell you from first-hand experience that grease and food scraps will clog a drain.

A $5 stainless-steel screen strainer can prevent a $500 drain-cleaning service call. You can see how this one captured small grains of rice and other food scraps. Tim Carter/Tribune Content Agency/TNS

Last week, I shared my broken boiler saga. Even though I did the repair myself, I was still out of pocket almost $540. Had I been forced to hire a professional to do the repair, the total bill would have approached $1,000. I’m sure he would have marked up the $387 fan at least 30 percent.

This week, a $5 stainless-steel sink strainer reminded me twice how it’s guarding the 1.5-inch sink drain pipe buried in the wall behind my kitchen sink base cabinet. The first time it stopped globs of coagulated cheese from entering the pipe. The second time, it filled up with hundreds of pieces of rice someone didn’t put in the garbage can.