My kitchen sink won't drain - DIY question

[jimhigham]

Dear all,

Sorry to use the Big Board for a very non-football question. However, experience suggests that I get better answers from the NSC family than I do DIY forums. So here goes...

My kitchen sink won't drain. All the other sinks and baths in the house connecting to the soil pipe are fine so it seems that the problem is isolated to the kitchen waste pipe.

I've blocked the air vents and plunged and this hasn't worked. I've dismantled the trap and checked that this is clear. When water is run through the sink without the trap on it runs straight through to a waiting bucket. It seems that everything immediately beneath the sink is fine.

This morning I bought a 12' plumber's snake. I have tried to run this through the pipe leading out of the kitchen. There seems to be a significant blockage about 12"-18" down. I managed to get the snake through this once and was then able to run it all the way through to its full length. When this worked I reassembled the unit and tried to run the water only for the sink to fill straight up.

This is my first time fiddling around with kitchen pipes. When the snake ran through to the pipe to its full length I simply took it out, thinking that I had done the job. I am now guessing that I should have left it in there and given it a good few minutes of winding it around to free up any chunks of gunge. When I tried to run it back through again it kept getting stuck at the 12"-18" mark. It would seem that when the snake did penetrate the blockage it must have only made the smallest of gaps.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to what I can do next? Should I just be more patient, keep trying with the snake and then work it around a lot more the next time I break the blockage?

Grateful for any advice. I could really do without having to cough up for a plumber.

Cheers.

 

[DanielT]

we had a similar problem a few years ago. turned out it was soap build up at the join of the pipe to the main waste pipe. the soap solidifies and needed a snake all the way to the join. this was caused by a very shallow pipe though. send the snake down again as far as it goes and keep spinning it on any blockages

 

[Eggmundo]

Had the problem yesterday, after pumping away and sticking wire down it I poured in a load of soda crystals and left it.

Cleared no problem.

 

[therealdsg]

Try boiling water once cleared and if it doesnt try caustic soda

 

[sydney]

move house...!

 

[nick c]

One shot is what i would use,extremely powerful drain cleaner,follow instructions on bottle and be very careful when handling.

 

[Taybha]

try sticking a skinny palace supporter down it ( not the spotty type) , failing that i concur with Drainbuster fluid, leave for a hour then pour a few kettles of hot water down it

 

[Pevenseagull]

One shot is what i would use,extremely powerful drain cleaner,follow instructions on bottle and be very careful when handling.

EITHER one shot OR caustic soda should do it. NOT both, I repeat NOT both

 

[tedebear]

Try a few kettles full of boiling water first = if its fat and or soap it should melt it. Soda crystals as someone mentioned above too are next choice. Drain cleaner works too usually in a few hours but its very nasty stuff.

 

[Nottseagull]

Have you checked that the pipe outside isn't blocked with ice?

 

[jimhigham]

Thanks all for the help so far. I am assuming that the block is simply in the kitchen waste pipe, as all the other sinks, baths and toilets seem to be in full working order. I've managed to feed through the plumber's snake to 12' and wiggled it around as much as I can and also had a try with "One Shot". It hasn't worked although the draining away does seem to be ever so slightly faster.

My inclination is to have another go with the One Shot, as I can certainly hear it fizzing away. However, the instructions don't contain any advice as to how often the stuff can be applied.

Any advice?

Ta.

 

[Superphil]

This stuff will do it, chuck another bottle down

Or, you could pour some petrol down it and light it, might work

 

[Pat McCrotch]

This stuff works a treat.

 

[Lush]

This morning I bought a 12' plumber's snake.

 

[BBassic]

We're having our kitchen floor up cos some bright spark decided to put a load of expanding foam down our pipes and it's clogged up the entire fracking system.

 

[The Brighton Bear]

Have you tried switching your kitchen light off and then back on again?

 

[BensGrandad]

If we had a similar problem in the pubs we poured a bottle of One Shot down it at closing time and usually by the morning it had cleared.

 

[Easy 10]

Have you taken the plug out ?

 

[jimhigham]

Cheers to you all! All sorted. Just another dose of One Shot and we're back in business. Messing around with sulphuric acid makes one feel so MANLY.

Yet again, NSC solves all of life's little niggles.

 

[Barry Izbak]

Got a similar problem here. Where do I buy ONE SHOT ?