My kitchen sink is draining very sloooooooooowwwwwwly. It was completely blocked last night, but I put some liquid plummer in it and it started to drain, but still very slow. Today, I've tried the plunger (again), and have put in another dose of a different product (making sure that the other stuff was completely gone, so as not to mix chemicals). This new stuff is supposed to melt grease build-up away. After the first dose of this stuff the sink is still draining very slowly. I'm doing a second, stronger dose but I'm not holdong out much hope. I'm thinking about getting a cheap snake from HD. Looks like they have one for under $30. Any suggestions before I spend a ton of money on the sink?

 

Take the plumbing apart underneath the sink and look for the clog. It's probably in the trap. Have some old towels ready to catch the stinky water. Clean them up and put them back together. Since there is no pressure in those pipes, the fittings usually only need to be hand tight.

 

Ditto on the trap check first. Don't forget to try to flush as much water thru that before you take it apart. Some of those chemicals really burn when on the skin or eyes. dont ask me how i know. lol. Wear gloves and eye protection if you got it.

A drain snake is something useful to always have on hand. I've got a 25 footer that's come in handy a few times. It's not expensive and my drill hooks to the back of it if i dont want to hand crank it.

 

OK, thanks, fellas! Updte: The second application of said chemical didn't seem to work, either.... or did it?

It was still not draining, so in a bit of frustration, I decided to try to plunge it again. I put the stopper on the disposal side of the sink and held it with my free hand and plunged the other sink as hard as I could without getting nasty water everywhere. When I took the plunger out, I heard the sink 'gurgle' a bit, so I thought maybe I was making some progress, but the water was still standing. I did it a couple more times and suddenly all the water simply drained away! I let hot water run down the drain for about 5 minutes straight and it didn't back up into the sink.
Good news: clog is gone.
Better news: I didn't seem to do any damage with the plunger. (I've heard you can burst weak joints using a plunger.)
Even better news: I get to go buy a new tool for future use (snake).

Now, my plans are to get some sirt of pipe/ drain enzyme treatment to hopefully prevent this in the future. Do you all treat the pipes on occassion? Is there a preferred brand for home use (I'm suburban, not rural, so I have city water and sewage)?

 

You wouldn't want all that Lye or Sulfuric Acid in your septic system if you did have one.
Enzymes can help keep pipes clean but they will do little to eliminate a clog after the fact.
They all work, but some are just for septic tanks.

A lot depends on the cause of the clog.
Grease buildup can make a 'sticky trap' for all other kinds of food debris to get caught in.
Over time this constricts the drain much like plaque buildup in your arteries.
Then it doesn't take much to stop it up.

A plunger can jar loose a foreign object.
Sulfuric acid reacts with organic matter in the trap and gets hot enough to soften and melt the grease.
Lye reacts directly with the grease to turn it into soap and glycerin which are water soluble as well as hydrolyzing organic material.

Hair clogs in the bathroom are another story.
Toilet problems probably shouldn't be discussed on this forum...

 

I've never had any good luck with drain cleaners. So I don't keep them around so the wife isn't tempted to "fix" anything. Neither you, nor the Roto-Rooter guy, is going to want to work on the drain after a failed attempt using drain cleaner. A snake is the right tool for any clog beyond the trap. Keep one around and learn to use it.

For troublesome drains, which seem to clog frequently, it is often best to get a pro out with his power snake and have him run the line. Once done, you may enjoy years of trouble free drain. You can rent a snake for any job, if you want to DIY.

 

what I do sometimes is hook up a compressor with blow attachment on hose and aim down pipe. Turn pressure lower. Works wonder for me

 

I've had great luck with my shop vac in removing clogs and unwanted foreign debris that should never be introduced into a drain.

I did have an issue a few years back. My house was built in 1968 and is filled with copper piping. Copper doesn't like caustic drain cleaners and over time (decades) the copper will pit and the line will fail. It happened to me and the drain in the kitchen wall split and I ended up with some nasty grey water in my kitchen before I figured it all out.

Fortunately we were able to access the problem and make the repair through the dishwasher opening after removing the DW. No cabinets were destroyed making this repair.

 

This is sorta unrelated but for.future prevention you can pick up a mesh drain screen that drops right in the drain opening so only liquid can go through for a couple bucks. We have one and it works really well

 

Our drain was always slow. Used a plunger, Drain-O, Liquid Plumber, etc. Still was slow. We were having some work done and one of the helpers was a retired plumber. He told me NEVER to use anything but a snake to loosen the blockage, and, once a week, put a tea kettle of boiling water down the drain. That was over 5 years ago, and the boiling water works like a charm!!!!!!!!

 

yeah snake it or take the trap apart.

My experience with several slow drains is that the liquid plumbers etc often won't work on the weird sludge that builds up over time.

The sludge I have removed from traps looks like a fat rubber hose and often fits the shape of the pipe. It can also coat the inside of the pipe for several inches. It can be pretty hard stuff so a drain cleaner ain't going to touch it.

A snake will probably work but if the drain is really clogged, it might leave enough clog to allow fast buildup later. So because I don't own a snake, I just jump right in and do the dirty job. It doesn't take long, but it is messy. usually the plug pushes out with easy finger pressure.

BTW, Often the drain hose to the "air pipe???" from dish washers often gets like this and prevents the washer from draining into the main sink drain. Instead it pumps out thru the breather that is under that shiney chrome cap on top of your sink. My wife loves this when it happens.

After it is cleaned you might try the "gentle" type cleaners. I like to use the bactrial type cleaner. I think Robick brand?? It is a powder that you dissolve in warm water and pour into the drain over night.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Hows that work on the garbage disposal? Pretty good?

 

probably should have added that my parents have one of the dual sink setups (which they hate by the way), and my mom has it on the side that just drains, not to the garbage disposal.

 

Kind of reminds me of a Drain King. Anyone use those? They are banned around here.


I'm rarely so lucky that the clog is between the sink and the vent. They are always deeper than that.

 

Why banned?
They will hammer out most clogs.I just want to say I am against the use of acids and alkali's in plumbing as well.
I just wanted to explain how they are supposed to work.
If you have ever been 'fortunate' enough to open a cleanout in a basement ceiling and have a gallon of Clobber (sulfuric acid) pour out all over you, you would know why no professionals suggest their use.