Nobody thinks about drains until water's sitting in the shower. Buildup is gradual — grease, hair, soap coating the pipe wall until the opening is half what it started as. You adjust to a slow sink without noticing. Then one night with guests over, it backs up. Clearing it on a schedule handles that while the material is still soft, and a camera down the main catches roots at a joint before they crack the line open and cost you a dug-up yard.

Skip the chemical cleaners too. They're rough on old cast iron and only bore a channel through the clog, so it rebuilds in a month. A real drain cleaning service pulls the material out. My coworker ignored a gurgling kitchen sink all winter and finally called Bear Construction and Home Services. Roots at a joint, cleared the same afternoon. He said the tech walked him through the camera footage and the bill matched the quote exactly. He's recommended them to two neighbors since.