Plumbing Help

[Barbs4339]

I have a double sink with a garbage disposal in my kitchen. When I run water for about 30 seconds, I get water backing up into each sink. I have disasembled the pipes and cleaned the traps, snaked down a good 25 feet, and poured in a bottle of Liquid Plummer foaming and still no luck. Is there anything else I can do short of hiring a plumber at this point?

[jwill535]

make sure your garbage disposel isnt clogged. Get an allen wrench, on the bottom there should be a spot for you to "back out" the gears. Does this for a couple turns. Then run your disposal while running water and see if that does anything.

[bork]

It could be a blocked roof vent. That can cause slow draining. Of course, it's not the best time to be going on a roof with all the melting snow and ice.

[Barbs4339]

Currently when running the disposal, the water will drain in that sink and back up into the other one. Not sure if that means it's clogged or not. I was not aware a roof vent could effect my plumbing. I will look into that.

[aracko]

Plunge it. Hold a wet Rag over the garbage disposal side to keep it air tight and plunge it. Then do it the other way.

[Fatter than Joey]

Do you live in an older house?

 

Do your pipes go into your basement?

 

I recently had similar problems. -- I found that my piping was all 1/2 inch copper -- and ran all along my basement.

 

So I just ran PVC right to the big pipe out of the house, and that has seemed to fix my plumbing WOAHs

[bork]

The roof vent/pipe is like a soda straw. If you hold your finger over the top, the soda won't drain out of the straw. The roof vent works the same way.

[jwill535]

Plunge it. Hold a wet Rag over the garbage disposal side to keep it air tight and plunge it. Then do it the other way.

Never plunge your plumbing(other then toliet), especially if you have Pvc, the pressure caused is bad for the joints.

 

Since the drains would be connected at a the main with a y joint, you may want to check that. The vent is just there to exhaust the "stink", it really doesnt play any part unless you for some reason the pipe became overly . Since it has been warm and your vent is 10" above your roof you shouldnt have a problem with that.

[Barbs4339]

My house was built in 1977. Not sure where the pipes run, but I will check that when I get home tonight.

[Barbs4339]

Since the drains would be connected at a the main with a y joint, you may want to check that.

So my question is this, would the clog be at the "y" joint if I can run water for 30 seconds before it backs up or does that just mean that the clog way down in the pipes and is probably something that I can't get to?

[jwill535]

it may be lower down the line. Is your basement finished? If not go down and find the clean out(4" diameter cap probably 4'-5' off the ground on your main drain.) You may want to call a plumber if you dont want to deal with the mess that will come from popping the clean out off.

[Fatter than Joey]

check your pipes in the basement -- my house is 100+ years old, so I saw that the small pipes were going to be a continual problem so I bypassed them -- if you have a newer house you probably have a trap or something you can clean out.

[7rebmun]

This is more of a "this is what my problem was", and not necessarily yours.

 

I had to have someone come clean the line from my house to the sewer in the street.

 

Not sure if it was me, or the previous owners however years of putting stuff down the disposal didn't work out so well and it eventually clogged the line out to the sewer. What do you put down your disposal? What I learned is you basically shouldn't put anything down it really, but especially bad are egg shells, lettuce, fiberous veggies. These can all clog it bad. I had to have a plumber come take care of it.

 

Just a thought if you tend to put a ton of stuff down your disposal.

[1992casey]

I recently went through this with my dad at his house. As 7rebmun says, the problem could easily be beyond 25 feet. (At my dad's, the clog was at almost exactly 25 feet. Had it been beyond that, the plumber would have charged extra.)

 

The absolutely regrettable thing was trying drain opener. It stained the sink.

[Barbs4339]

Well, I tried snaking from the pipe in the basement after unscrewing the square cap and I was able get down about 5 or 6 feet and cannot force it down any further. I can now run the water for about a minute before ot clogs. I'm thinking a plummer may be my best bet at this point. Any idea how much that might cost?

[Barbs4339]

Do you guys think that I could rent a power rooter from like The Home Depot and do this myself successfully?

[jwill535]

to be honest at this point you might as well spend the 75-150 on a plumber then renting something and dealing with the mess or the chance something could go wrong.

[dadofandrew]

I'd just avoid running water for more than a minute.

[1992casey]

Is this messing up all your drains or just one? That might give you a clue as to the location of the clog.

 

Depending on when he shows up or how quickly you want him, I'd plan on at least $200 for a plumber.

[Fatter than Joey]

I live in a small town -- We dont have a roto rooter. The country plumber wanted to charge me $200+ so I rented a power rooter for $30 and rocked the pipes. I have done both indoor pipes and out to the street.

 

I'd certainly start with a roto rooter type, and if they charge too much I wouldnt be afraid to get a rental.

[Barbs4339]

Success. I rented a 25 foot power snake from Wisconsin Rental near my house for $30 and I snaked it down all 25 feet and everything seems to be working fine. Thanks for your help everyone.