My kitchen sink stopped working yesterday. I used Draino, a plunger and even got a my el-cheapo snake a good ten to twelve feet down the drain pipe. Nothing.
Found out later that my dear girlfriend has been washing off her muddy boots after coming home from walking the dogs..
Is renting a longer snake the way to go? I am wondering if a snake is the way to go or hoping that keeping sinks full of water may clear itself.
Have people coming over for dinner tonight. Need some quick ideas.
(Scared to think what a plumber would cost on a Sunday)
Replies
I would use a "power blaster" or "jet blaster", don't know what the trade name is for them. They are an expanding rubber bulb that goes on the end of the hose. The swell up and seal the pipe and then they pulse the water on and off very fast.
In my case the most difficult thing is that you have to get it in the wall and past the "t" where the vent pipe connects.
You can get them at most hardware and home horror stores.
I rented a professional snake. I got it all the way down the kitchen drain pipe into the main drain. I checked - and did it 3 times.
It still is not running!!!!!
I don't get it. I hoped a snake would move it but I was wrong.
I'll look for ones of those jet things.
Time to figure out where the cleanouts are on your system. Unscrew the one closest to the sink and take the snake there.
Hint -
if your GF is like most of the wimin I've known, she needs to be a dirty part of this process. That way, she'll learn not to do something like this. If you take on the helmet of the shining white knight and solve her problem for her, it WILL be repeated, because the only thing she learns is that you are pretty handy to have around.
double hint -
Plan enough time to take a shower right after cleaning the lines.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Are youy getting mud on the snake?
If that is the problem then if no mud then you aint reached the clog yet.
if mud isn't the problem then you need a bigger and better snake(story of your life eh?)
If you ever seen a roto rooter snake, they have a big 2" dia or bigger cutter.
And you can't just poke thru and pull out!
you gotta stay in there and work it back and forth till you finish the job properly!(man this is too good!)
A good snake handler will be able to feel when he hits the right spot and hear when he's getting results.
Ifd you don't get what I'm talking about then maybe you need to hire a professional.
Drain cleaner that is!
Mr T
I pity da Foo!!!
You cunning linguist, you!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
:)Mr T
I pity da Foo!!!
What do you mean by "main drain" and how do you know that you have reached it?
Do you know that the snake is not going up the vent pipen and not down the drain pipe?
Now long is the snake that you rented and how far out did you get it?
The basement ceiling is open so I can follow the kitchen drain pipe until it meets the main drain of the house.
I had the snake all the way down the drain pipe. There is one clean out along the drain. Water didn't seem to make it to the clean out even though I had the snake all the way past it.
As the drain pipe is accessable I think my best bet would be to simply cut it out and replace it with an ABS one.
Can't find those jet hose things. My HD doesn't carry them.
Go to a True Value or ACE. The one I have looks like a rubber nozzle or a handle bar grip with a female hose connection on one end and a small orifice on the other.
I search the net and came up with the name Drain King. Is that it?
I am in Toronto. No Ace ot TV. HD and other big box stores don't carry it. Will call around.
Exactly, one I have is Drain King model 501 for 1" to 2" drains. My mom had this one for many years, no web site on card, (before Al Gore invented internet). G.T. Water products manufacturer on card. I think maybe Wal-mart. Look for any real hardware store. Good luck
Bob
ASENNAD,
Umm, well, umm, since you have all this time and running around invested, and umm, well you could umm, maybe....................call a pro? They are usually pretty quick at fixing the problem and diagnosing what the true cause is. Just a thought. I guess you could keep buying stuff and guessing. Maybe it'll get done by the next dinner party. DanT
".....call a pro?"
What and admit defeat? NEVER I SAY!!!
Actually got the drain working this morning. After snaking the drain yesterday it went from nothing, to a trickle, so I hoped that a little Dranio might help break up some grease holding the mud and dirt in place. Kept filling the sinks with water to keep the pipes wet and this morning it was was flowing well.
Thanks to all who replied the excellent advice.
But we still need to know -
How did the dinner party go with muddy boots in the kitchen sink?
;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
When I first saw the tread title, I thought about this:
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=33568.1
I wonder if we're getting off track here. It would take A LOT of mud down the sink to clog anything other than the trap. And it sounds from what I've read so far as if the clog is out in the yard, and this is a cast iron system. So it's at least 25 years old, and likely 50 or more.
Very likely the cast iron drain has collapsed out in the yard, and the mud is only incidental to the issue.
ASENNAD,
You probably already know this but one of the best preventive maintenance items you can do for a drain is to run strait hot water in it for 10 minutes or so once a month. The heat loosens grease, feces etc and by doing so for the 10 minute span it gives the pipes time to heat up. DanT
Can't see your exact situation from here, but it sounds like the best bet would be to find or rent a Mustang jetter unit. Small diameter flexible high-pressure hose with tip that hooks to a power washer. Tip should have one hole facing forward to bore a hole in the obstruction and will have three holes facing backwards that help propel the hose down the pipe ........and to scrub the pipe once you've passed thru the obstruction and begin pulling the hose backwards.
If circumstances with the main drain cleanout allow, you may get the job done with a common garden hose with a simple brass adjustable nozzle on it. Pre-adjust the nozzle for a tight stream. Feed the hose down the main drain until you impact the obstruction and turn on the water. Be ready to catch any water that backs up in buckets. If you get thru, pull the hose, adjust nozzle for a bit wider pattern and re-feed the hose. This should wash the mud out of there.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Take apart the kitchen trap and start your snake there (under the counter) In one of our homes the sink clogs just before the cleanout - after the trap.
75 miles of snake won't reach the clog in the opposite direction
I have the best luck with plungers usually. The trick is to try to pull the plug back instead of forcing it down. Push the plunger down over the sink hole (plug up the other hole if there is one) and jerk the plunger up. Repeat until the drain is clear, or you are hurting too bad to go on.
That is true unless the clog is past the vent then a plunger will not do anything. Last one I had that drive me crazy was a bathroom lav that teed in to vent went up on roof and ran garden hose down it and I think it knocked it lose before water ever hit it.
True, but I thought the clog would be closer to the sink. Some sinks do go right to the stack, like in my old shack. One stack with the bath on one side, and the kitchen on the other. Nice and simple, but unfortunately deteriorated like the rest of the place.
Dad's plumber did not care too much about roof penetrations back in the late 50's when I helped build the place. One for kitchen, one main stack by toilet and another small one for tub/lav and basement sinks. I can remember him puffing on his pipe. I got to lead a few joints, that was cool at the time, I was about 11-12. When we replaced the septic tank I found out why there were clogs so often, did not use sweep or long radius coming out of house, had regular 90. This cast iron has to outlast me and leave the heirs something to take care of.
I got to drill most of the holes for the wiring, and there were many. Dad used low voltage relay switching, I have never seen a house where light bulbs lasted so long. Has two rotary 9 position switches that you can rotate while holding down the on/off side of switch and light up the night while DW gets you the shootin' iron.
Dad was an engineer, he would have had a ball here at BT.
Got the relay low voltage system....Hear a noise in the night and light it all up in a second...Now gotta find the model 12 and put it behind the bdroom door...(no plugs and 2 ought...)
Bud
Chemical cleaners won't work on mud. They're made for organics like grease and hair. You have to be really careful now that using one of the other techniques suggested (which are both good) that you don't blow any chemicals back at you. If the drain is clogged the chemicals are still there. Caustic chemicals can cause permanent blindness in less than a second if you get them in your eye. Acids aren't as bad. Please be careful.
First, just take apart the trap under the sink. Be sure to have something (eg, dishpan) to catch the water, and be sure to pay careful attention to where all the gaskets and washers go. Probably you will find the clog in the trap.
If the clog isn't in the trap, go into the drainpipe with a small self-storing drain auger.
Do you have a shop vac?
Open the cleanout (to let air in), put the nozzle on the sink drain, and suck it out.