# Enzymatic drain cleaners?



## Tyler520 (Aug 12, 2011)

Was wondering if any of you have experience using enzymatic drain cleaners? A company wanted $3k to water jet the old cast iron pipes in our house that have built up a bunch of grease, and snaking its only marrying about 2-3 months, so I'd like to try something else before we pull the trigger on such a huge chunk of change


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## 67drake (May 6, 2020)

Get some more estimates! $3000 is crazy. IMO. 
I used the enzyme cleaner at my old house. I didn’t really notice a difference. BUT a had 3 black locusts in my front yard, and it turns out that their roots were finding their way into my drain. I would have to snake out my main every 12-16 months or so. 
I also took my garbage disposal out. It lets people think they can just dump any old thing down the drain! I take them out of EVERY house I own. 
With the cost of the enzyme cleaner, I say give it a shot. A lot cheaper than a jet for $3000. 
You also might have some broken tiles or pipes, they tend to catch all sorts of junk then, besides obliviously restricting the pipes. 
Maybe look at ways to cut down on the amount of grease that goes down your drain too! I pour any hamburger or bacon grease over my dogs food as opposed to putting it down the drain. 
I’m a little anal about my drains as you can probably see. But after running a 3/4” 100’ long cable through my mains all the time, which I did myself, not to mention tenants who would dump and flush whatever they wanted, I got real picky about whet went down my drains


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

- not sure if enzymatic cleaners are smart if you have a septic system.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I would look into replacing the pipe with pvc


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

The drain was slow in my kitchen so I worked at it bit by bit cleaning it out. Ended up having to replace the main cast iron pipe as it had a quarter sized hole in it. Plumber said it leaked as I had cleaned out the grease plug.
Just sayin'.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I'm thinking the same thing. The grease may be the only thing holding the pipe together.

How old is the cast iron pipe?


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## Tyler520 (Aug 12, 2011)

The piping is from the mid to late 70s. We had it camera inspected and they couldn't find any holes or cracks, but confirmed that grease was the primary cause of blockage. The snaking wasnt strong enough to scour it away very much. 

I do know that enzymatic cleaners only work on organic matter and that most of the people who have complained about it on ratings I've seen didn't understand this and tried to use it on inorganic blockages. So hypothetically, it should be able to build up a decent colony


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