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Clogged drain-need advice please Login/Join 
I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not
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I don't even try to fix it or use chemicals. Call roto rooter and be done with it
 
Posts: 7799 | Location: Bismarck ND | Registered: February 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Just because you can,
doesn't mean you should
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Drano makes a product for this.
Pour in, let it sit for the specified time, flush with water. You may need to repeat if it's flowing but slow. The second time flush with hot water first.


___________________________
Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible.
 
Posts: 9505 | Location: NE GA | Registered: August 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Suppressed
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quote:
Originally posted by Ronin101:
I don't even try to fix it or use chemicals. Call roto rooter and be done with it


I called them once and they charged me $175 for about 10 minutes of work. That is when I decided that I wasn’t charging enough in my tree service business. I raised my rates about 25% with no resulting decrease in business.
 
Posts: 3230 | Location: MD | Registered: March 23, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
A teetotaling
beer aficionado
Picture of NavyGuy
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As a good measure, also check the drain vent. The pipe that usually vents to your roof which allows air in and relieves the vacuum created when water drains. If this is clogged with leaves or a dead squirrel your drain will be very slow.



Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

-D.H. Lawrence
 
Posts: 11524 | Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: February 07, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Never Go
Full Retard
Picture of MitchbSC
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quote:
Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
quote:
Originally posted by MitchbSC:
Draino Urgent Clear.

Otherwise, subtle application of high explosives.


I never use chemicals. Cause they never work, and then you're still stuck manually cleaning the drain, only now you also have to deal with that crap getting on your skin.


Unfortunately I had to resort to chemicals on my last clog. It was a shower drain where the only option to access the trap was to cut open the ceiling in the great room below.

If Urgent Clear had not worked, I would have taken one of these options before cutting open the ceiling ...

quote:
Originally posted by Sig2340:
Your best options:
burn the place down
move
rent and move
sell and move
stop using the sinks




They don't think it be like it is, but it do.
 
Posts: 4797 | Location: SC | Registered: January 27, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of rexles
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Techguy;
If the water is backing from one sink to the other, like you stated, the clog is back into the wall. Most side by side vanity drains have individual drains going into the wall.
The drain usually goes into a double T or Y branch and the drain goes down and a vent goes up.
The vent usually ties into the main vent from the toilet in the attic and forcing air or water into the drain will result in the water or air going up the vent and into the main vent and right down the drain. Using forced water with a drain king or blow bag will usually result in a big mess. The water you force up the vent will come back out as soon as you take the water pressure off.
Using a snake is the way to approach this type of clog.
It can be very tricky. Usually the snake will cross from one sink drain right across into the other drain.
I have special swivel heads for my drain snakes that will drop into the drain at the T, but MANY times it is an aggravating and DIRTY process. Many times it takes a "FEEL" to know when you are at the T and if the snake head is going down or sometimes even up the vent.
I know most think we plumbers charge too much money, but I do drain cleaning every day and side by side sinks can be a nightmare.
I have already had to pull a mirror off the wall and cut a hole into the vent to get the snake to drop, or go into the attic and cut the vent and go down the vent.
What I am saying is, you will spend a lot of time and aggravation trying to do this yourself.
Call a professional.
Roto Rooter are usually the highest priced drain cleaners. Find an independent guy who does not advertise. Word of mouth, referrals from friends or co=workers who have been happy with someone.
Good luck


NRA Life member
NRA Certified Instructor
"Our duty is to serve the mission, and if we're not doing that, then we have no right to call what we do service" Marcus Luttrell
 
Posts: 1113 | Location: Holland, OH | Registered: May 07, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nosce te ipsum
Picture of Woodman
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Time for Twister with the wife. You'll be close, so brush yer teeth first Big Grin

Fill up both sinks with a couple inches of water. You use one plunger on one sink, close and hold shut the pop-up on the other. Have wet rags stuffed and held into the overflow holes.

Plunge away, one handed. Thy obstruction will clear.

Chemicals? We don't need no stinkin' chemicals!
 
Posts: 8759 | Registered: March 24, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Tinker Sailor Soldier Pie
Picture of Balzé Halzé
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by MitchbSC:
quote:
Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
quote:
Originally posted by MitchbSC:
Draino Urgent Clear.

Otherwise, subtle application of high explosives.


I never use chemicals. Cause they never work, and then you're still stuck manually cleaning the drain, only now you also have to deal with that crap getting on your skin.


Unfortunately I had to resort to chemicals on my last clog. It was a shower drain where the only option to access the trap was to cut open the ceiling in the great room below.

If Urgent Clear had not worked, I would have taken one of these options before cutting open the ceiling ...

quote:
Originally posted by Sig2340:
Your best options:
burn the place down
move
rent and move
sell and move
stop using the sinks


I shouldn't say never. As a last resort, particularly for something like a shower drain, I'd use chemicals before cutting out drywall.

I also wouldn't discourage someone from using something like draino as a maintenance tool. But once there is a clog, I'll tackle it first hands-on with either the zip-it tool or removing accessible plumbing.


~Alan

Acta Non Verba
NRA Life Member (Patron)
God, Family, Guns, Country

Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan

"Once there was only dark. If you ask me, light is winning." ~Rust Cohle
 
Posts: 30408 | Location: Elv. 7,000 feet, Utah | Registered: October 29, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Little ray
of sunshine
Picture of jhe888
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quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
Zip It!

Zip-It Bath and Sink Hair Snare

Helps clear clogged and slow-running tub, shower and sink drains
Clear drains without chemicals
Durable polymer construction

$2.48 /each



Those work great for clogs that are mostly hair. Just taking the trap out works, too, but is a little more work.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53122 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of aguilar64
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quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
Zip It!

Zip-It Bath and Sink Hair Snare

Helps clear clogged and slow-running tub, shower and sink drains
Clear drains without chemicals
Durable polymer construction

$2.48 /each



I have three women with long hair and they work great.


********************
“When the law disarms good guys, bad guys rejoice.”
― Ted Nugent

 
Posts: 2209 | Location: North East | Registered: November 02, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
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Those medical waste basin/foot tub things are your friend. Grab a few cheep ones if you start taking things apart to use as catch pans.
 
Posts: 17884 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I sometimes use a garden hose stretched in from the garage with a shut-off valve on the end. My lovely wife pushes down on one stopper with a wet towel and I insert the hose in the other drain with a small wet towel wrapped around it then I turn on the valve. I can't remember any time this didn't work. It also doesn't ever make a mess. The shutoff valve is important to adequately control the water.
 
Posts: 1500 | Location: S/W Illinois | Registered: October 29, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Age Quod Agis
Picture of ArtieS
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Dynamite?




"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."

Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.
 
Posts: 12776 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: November 02, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
paradox in a box
Picture of frayedends
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Maybe I missed it but did no one suggest buying a snake and snaking it out? I can’t imagine removing a trap and dealing with the water or adding chemicals. A snake isn’t too expensive and is a great tool to own.




These go to eleven.
 
Posts: 12436 | Location: Westminster, MA | Registered: November 14, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Never Go
Full Retard
Picture of MitchbSC
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quote:
Originally posted by frayedends:
Maybe I missed it but did no one suggest buying a snake and snaking it out? I can’t imagine removing a trap and dealing with the water or adding chemicals. A snake isn’t too expensive and is a great tool to own.


Which flavor of snake?

Recommendations so far lean to the "Zip-It Bath and Sink Hair Snare" at 20 in. long, with 18 in. of barbed length per Home Despot.




They don't think it be like it is, but it do.
 
Posts: 4797 | Location: SC | Registered: January 27, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
paradox in a box
Picture of frayedends
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by MitchbSC:
quote:
Originally posted by frayedends:
Maybe I missed it but did no one suggest buying a snake and snaking it out? I can’t imagine removing a trap and dealing with the water or adding chemicals. A snake isn’t too expensive and is a great tool to own.


Which flavor of snake?

Recommendations so far lean to the "Zip-It Bath and Sink Hair Snare" at 20 in. long, with 18 in. of barbed length per Home Despot.


I was thinking something like this. Available at Home Depot. I've used one for sinks, toilets, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/General...keywords=drain+snake




These go to eleven.
 
Posts: 12436 | Location: Westminster, MA | Registered: November 14, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
always with a hat or sunscreen
Picture of bald1
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This has been the "go to" for years after a pro recommended the stuff.




Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club!
USN (RET), COTEP #192
 
Posts: 16208 | Location: Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: June 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
paradox in a box
Picture of frayedends
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Chemicals in general are bad. I'd say use them as a last resort but then if that's the last resort they won't likely work.

If you use them first and they don't work then you have a drain pipe filled with chemical that will likely burn you when you open the trap. If the first chemical doesn't work and you try another you may create really toxic fumes and a dangerous situation.

Apart from all that they can wreak havoc on your pipes depending on material compatibility. Snake that puppy out. Big Grin




These go to eleven.
 
Posts: 12436 | Location: Westminster, MA | Registered: November 14, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Where there's smoke,
there's fire!!
Picture of techguy
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I’ve tried the Zip-It on both sinks, nothing comes up. I’m going to snake it I reckon. I agree with rexles, I think it’s farther down than a p trap since both are backing up.
 
Posts: 1773 | Location: Kentucky | Registered: February 16, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I do the zip it thing about once a month. Just preventative maintenance.


End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
 
Posts: 16087 | Location: Marquette MI | Registered: July 08, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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