To make a long story short I think that have sand in the bottom of p-trap that is underneath a slab. I have tried muriatic acid which doesn’t do much if anything. Since it does drain I do not think that a balloon will help my cause. My other thought is that the head pressure above the p-trap is not enough to push the water through the drain as fast but I doubt this since I have about 8.5″ of head pressure above the drain. Any suggestions?
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Hope those pipes aren't metal! Muriatic acid will not attack sand, as sand is silicon dioxide, IIRC. All it will do is eat away your pipes! Is there any way to remove the drain grate or somehow get a shop vac hose down there and suck it out? Or flush it out with a hose? No chemicals I know of (other than fluorine or hydrofluoric acid) will attack sand.
the pipes are pvc
Ah, good. Acid didn't do any harm then. I thought of snake too, but wondered if it would just shove the sand around without actually moving it down the drain. Maybe stirring it up with a snake while running lots of water down there will flush it down.
(If it were mortar or had any lime or limestone in it, acid would disolve it, but plain sand is pretty acid proof, as far as I know.)
That evil DeWalt ad fooled me. I wanted to reply to the Original Poster.
I used to work at a resort on the coast and we had showers downstairs in the Jacuzzi and hair would get built up so they would disolve that with Sulfuric Acid. Then, using a plumber's helper like what appears after the moderators signiatue, sand would appear. The place was built on sand.
What had happened is the acid had disolved the iron pipes. Those showers had to be torn out and redone.
So the question is?: where did the sand come from.
On one of the pool showers, there was a problem with the shower drain. Lot of sand from people washing their feet and poor drain line design. The solution to that was to remove the cover plate and use a "Drain King", aka "donkey dick" or to be polite -- "donkey richard". Think Tricky Dick. An elaboration was to add a two way hose valve attachment to shut the think on and off and remove the residual pressure from the hose.
~Peter
A small rotary snake.
A small rotary snake.
Along with a blast from a hose should wash it on down
If it's plain sand (no cement or mortar) it will eventually flush out. You can speed it up by using lots of water ( a garden hose) and something to agitate the sand pile, like a toilet auger.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Plumber in a can, i think its called, gives a pressurized blast of gas to clear the trap
r2
Hydrocloric Acid?
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Wet/Dry shop vac with a narrow nozzle. Suck it dry, let any remaining sand dry for a day or so, and then suck it again.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
That's a completely different approach, but it should work just as well. I guess you get credit for think out of the pipe."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
"I guess you get credit for think out of the pipe."
Geee. I was expecting "that idea sucks!" ;-)
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
You can never tell how the discussion will go here. I was half expecting a "cut out the drywall below, replace the trap, add cleanout and insulate with foam" reply.
Call in a boring company and have a horizontal hole bored under the building to get to the trap. <G>
What diameter hole would you recommend for the bore?
Perhaps they could get Travelocity's roaming gnome to crawl through there to make a repair?
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
I hate to blow my own horn, but in post number 2, I said basically the same thing. While you are passing out milk bones, throw a few my way! ;-) (And, I got my idea from someone who posted here a tip to use a wet vac to suck water out of toilets before removing them--don't want to be abiden here! (I'm so clever and stil on my first cup off coffee!) Hoot, hoot! Bllaaaat!
"And, I got my idea from someone who posted here a tip to use a wet vac to suck water out of toilets before removing them"
That was "da Buckster". Better give him credit, or he'll be around to see ya! ;-)
Didn't read all the way thru' your post # 2, or I wouldn't have stepped on your suggestion.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
there are some good solutions here, i'll let you know how is turns out. Some of the posts did result in a chuckle. I think that I will first try the traveling gnome then the Donkey Richard and if that doesn't work go for the vacuum. For future reference the gnome did not originate with Travelocity it was from a French movie called Amélie. By the way who ever came up with the idea to vacuum the water out of the toilet and drain is brilliant and not I am not being a wise acre
"By the way who ever came up with the idea to vacuum the water out of the toilet and drain is brilliant and not I am not being a wise acre"I posted that idea here quite some time ago, but can't take credit for the idea. A plumber taught me that trick. After the toilet is installed again you can just dump the water from the wet/dry vac back into the bowl.
BruceT
After the toilet is installed again you can just dump the water from the wet/dry vac back into the bowl.
Or let your dog drink it! ;-)
Edited 9/9/2008 7:45 pm ET by Danno