Merkley's Variety Service, Drain cleaning

Merkley's Variety Service, Drain cleaning Specialist in drain and sewer cleaning over 50 years in business. We no longer clean drains or sept

05/09/2025

We do not recommend Messmers mechanical for any plumbing,AC. Or any type of repair or new installation

04/04/2021

How to clean that hard to clean toilet bowl. You can scrub, use every kind of cleaners and those Brown stains and build up just won't budge, They look awful and an embarrassment when company comes .How to get rid of it.The Brown unsightly build-up is acctuly lime and calcium deposits some purposely put in by water company's to coat oolder metal water pipes so they don't rust and start leaking, After a time of sitting and running into the bowel they start building up on the sides and bottom of the the toilet bowl getting thicker each year. You need to use acid to dissolve it and brush it away. Vinegar has acid but is kind of weak you need something stronger, like hydrochloric acid, Wou can get it at most hard were stores, But an easier way is to use the works toilet bowl cleaner, Or if it is really bad I use Liquid fire drain cleaner, Drain and soak up or vacuum all water out of the bowel and put the acid of your choice directly on the Brown ugly calcium lime deposits then leave the area The acid makes fumes that are bad to breath in and let it soak and dissolve the hard ugly deposits for about 45 minutes Then return to check your progress. Fiush toilet and use brush to brush away the loosened stuff from the sides. Repeate soaking and brushing as needed till stains are gone WARNING FOLLOW DERECTION ON BOTTLE FOR USE, IM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR USE OF PRODUCTS.

04/25/2020

I am often asked about putting yest in the toilet to keep septic tanks working or using a bucket of manure or dead chicken to start a new septic tank Do these work ? NO, in order for yest to do anything it would take a five gallon bucket full, And the gas build up will lift the lid off the septic tank under the ground Not a pleasant thing to fix and if it dose work by converting the starch in the food to alcohol it will kill every bit of bacteria in your tank, causing the stoppage of any decomposition of waste. Think of it as pouring water on a fire, I likin the action of a septic tank to a stove. The bacteria burns up the waste and turns it into a kind of ash. that has to be removed after a while. I also liken it to a fish tank, they are both homes to living organisms .so don't pour anything down a toilet, sink or drain you wouldn't put in a fish tank both bacteria and fish die of the same thing. .nether yeast, manure or decaying meat has what is needed. Most tanks have enough bacteria in it so dumping a box or RIDEX down a month wont work, I suggest enzyme that break the waste up making it easier for the bacteria to digest the waste quickly I normally recommend cleaning a problem tank out to get it to working.But during this time of the C-19 virus You can keep your tank working with lynzyme but it will only work for a month then reclog, and another bag will have to be added. How long will this keep working ? I honestly don't know. But it is all that I can offer unless you want to take a shop vacuum and pump or bucket your tank out. That's all I can tell you. .

12/02/2019

Cleaning calcium build up on toilet bowls, The build up is a hard glaze that is build up by water depositing calcium when you flush. over time this hard crust builds up and gets staind a brownish color that cant be removed with a brush. it can even cause the toilet to become slow flushing or stop working at all. The easiest method to remove it is with acid that reacts with the calcium causing it to dissolve, Look for toilet bowl cleaners that contain acid such as the works, Vacuum or soak up all the. water out of the bowel so not to dilute the acid pour in the acid into the empty toilet and let set for an hour or so till all the mineral build up is gone. then flush repeat if needed read the label for directions and be careful as some stronger acids can form gas dont stay in room after adding acid open a window if you can in bathroom before adding acid. We cleaned stools with stronger acid but it is very dangerous and you need to know what your doing with them so all is at your own risk Not responsible and all related legal jargon. In closing I would like to say I have never came across a toilet that had to be replaced due to build up, or worn out flappers or ball c***s , I have rebuilt 100 year old toilets that worked like new. the only reason for a new toilet replacement is if the ceramic is broken all other parts are replaceable.

08/04/2019

A useful project to do during the dry season is to take pictures of the dark green grass over your seepage field. During dry weather you can see the green stripes of grass over the field So you know where it is if your planing or have to do any construction in the futcher . You can also see how well your seepage field is doing are the lines of grass the length they should be? any of them a lot greener or not as green as the others maybe pointing out a problem with the field. I recommend taking pictures of any plumbing buried or not buried or even if its not plumbing if its buried take a picture Sometimes it is the only way to find it. .I had people point to a spot in the yard they were positive the septic tank or clean out was located, To find it was on the other side of the house after a picture was produced even blueprints can have mistakes.

03/31/2018

With the easter holiday and more company at the house you might find yourself with a backup in the stool,or sink. A septic tank sepage field is designed to hold enough waste water that can drain over a 24 hour period. with rain and extra use this might cut down the capacity a bit. and cause a temporary back up. With a city sewer the line might be partly clogged for several months or years and not show any signs of trouble. So do I recommend cleaning or pumping after the holidays. No not unless the problem persists, Why ? there are a few reasons. The way a drain is cleand unless using a water jet is a cable with progressively larger heads attached and run through the drain till a final head the same diameter as the pipe is run through. The head cutts the roots and makes a whole through soaps and grease to drain, but it needs water backed up to push the waste and roots out, without the water pushing cut roots or soap chunks might lodge and not be pushed out, pluse you have no way of knowing when the clogg is reched and properly removed sometimes this can lead to a clogging in a day or two from the cuttings. plus with modern toilets with there water saveing features waste is only taken halfway down the pipe the next flush takes it the rest of the way out, so paper clogs that can open itself are a real possibility. my best advice is to keep an easey to use plunger handy they have an accordion type section that kinda works itsself and most any guest can use. also a coverd trash basket for femanen napkins (They say flushable but thats just the cardboard aplacator not the napkins or tampex itself) these are by far the biggest holiday cloggers, a lid on the top with a little note will make it more likely to be used. With a septic tank I would wait a few days to let the water drain out of the field. if it still giveing problems after a couple of day it's probably clogged at the baffle or time to pump . But with a drain if it's not broke don't fix it.

11/20/2017

It's getting winter again and with the winter comes the cold, that means the water coming from your facet is going to be much colder and that means soap and grease are going to set up in your drains, and the septic tanks are going to stop working. Why? drains and septic tanks are alive so to speak. In drains the inside wall of a drain pipe has a colony of bacteria that eats waste from the pipe walls , if on a septic tank it will also farther be digested with the waste flushed through whole in the septic tank that is also full of bacteria that has stopped working do to the cold. If over 5 years without cleaning the septic tank the first cold snap will cause a clog . A septic tank and drain builds up in winter and if enough space is available it will last till summer when the warmer weather will wake the bacteria and the waste will start digesting the winter waste. What can you do if things slow down. Run hot water once a week to warm the bacteria in the septic tank and pipes to let it eat some through out the winter .with a normal 1000 gallon tank it takes about a water heater full. Adding normal bacteria is worthless the system is already full of bacteria unless you add a cold weather strain, enzymes are the only thing that will work in a tank, pipe, or private pump station to the city sewer I prefer lynzym as the best, ridx is the worst actually killing the bacteria and causing a clog in my opinion. So be prepared for a cold wether clog.

10/27/2017

If you need any information or advise please feel free to pm me or post . always more than glad to help if you need help, even if you are cleaning your drain or tank yourself. Or other plumbing problem.

09/25/2017

Now would be a good time to have your septic tank cleaned or add lynzymen if it's been 5 years since you had it cleaned . A septic tank works works at about 90% at 80 degree and cuts down to half efficency every 10 degrees so from 80 degrees at 90 % 70 degree equals 45 % efficiency so it only eats the waste half as fast.all the way down till it doesn't digest the waste as fast as its put in. Lynzymen is a cold cold natured enzyme, bacteria strain bought from dealers only, and limited to 2 boxes only sold after the tank was pumped as it keeps the tank and bed working I have personally lost several hundred dollars by selling it before. Because it works. Now I just sell lynzymen,and no longer pump, but I always recommend a tank be checked especially if your on a seepage bed every 5 years, wether you pump or use lynzymen.

08/03/2017

Don't use ridex in septic tank. The formula in ridex and plain yest will cause the sugars in the waste in a septic tank to turn into alcohol killing the bacteria and causing the tank to die . yes a septic tank and even a drain line are just containers like a fish tank for . the bacteria which live there and make enzymes . Waste is like fish food , for the bacteria. The waste that builds up and can't be digested is what needs to be removed. But with a good working tank cleaning can be put off for several years. Very few additives I have found work actually only one lynzymen it works not bye adding bacteria which the tank has plenty but buy adding enzymes which breaks down solids to expose the waste so the bacteria that is there can eat the waste much easer and faster .it also breaks up the soil in the seepage field to get rid of the black wet spots . I have actually used one pound to clean the creek running through an entire town polluted by a garage. It is very fast acting breaking op at least 6 ton in just under a week in a septic tank. But it's only available from a dealer that's the catch most dealers if they pump septic tanks will only sell a two year supply, before requiring you to pump a tank. Might try ebay.

01/31/2017

SEPTIC TANK PROBLEMS ? Clean your septic tank yourself. You go to use your toilet and when you flush it over flows. You don't have the money to have it pumped, what do you do. Clean it yourself. It's a dirty job but not that hard. First get or rent the biggest wet dry shop vacuum you can. A normal septic tank is 500 to 1000 gallons, but you don't have to empty it all to make it work, though it would be better. First dig out and open both lids. The pipe comes in and goes out at the top of the tank and is just a big water separator, you need to get enough of the solids out to make it work. The solids you need to get out are at the bottom so you might have to tape a pipe to the end of the hose to get to the bottom. First find where the pipe comes in from the house and vacuum this part good. Then stick the vacuum pipe down to the bottom and fill the vacuum up. And empty it into a barrel or compost pile, you can even just tape the vacuum hose to the top of a barrel and run a hose out of the bottom and vacuum right into the barrel/barrels. After vacuuming the front of the tank do the same to the back of the tank where the water go's out. The more you take out, the longer it will last. There might be a thick scum on top of undigested waste but this will digest later and can be vacuumed out later. A mud pump can be rented also to pump the waste out if you have a place on your property to spread it out. Spread hydrated lime over it to kill the germs and keep the smell down. You will need to check your local laws I am just writing as an entertainment and am not giving any legal advice, what you do is your responsibility to find out the law in your local. My understanding is that as long as you don't go on a public road and can spread on your own ground or connecting neighbours ground and don't charge, it is legal. And you don't have to pump it all out at once but you have to get enough out so waste can go in and water can go out.

01/31/2017

No plumbers, drain cloged , holiday company comeing, what do you do? Grab the wet and dry vacuum. With a sink, plug the overflow or with a double sink put the plug in the other sink. put the vacuum hose tight over the drain hole and turn it on, you might have to pull it off and on a few times to get the clog lose . This is a temporary fix, as what started the clog will still be there, but it should work fine for a few days and save your party. You can use the same method for the toilet and floor drains. Some times it won't work,it depends on air vents letting in too much air or the type of clog, but it is worth a try and more effective than a plunger

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Jasper, IN
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