All drains in house (3 levels) are working fine but my kitchen sink is still blocked. Am using enzyme cleaners now & the liquid doesn't go down any ideas why? It cannot be the sewer because 2 toilets & 3 other sinks and 2 showers are working fine. What could be stopping the liquid from going down. Have used plunger, snake (for about 12 inches) and other enzyme cleaners that always worked before. Appreciate any help.
2011-10-07T17:36:23Z
Nicholas; thanks for reply but don't even have a disposal. My kitchen on 2nd floor of a 2 family home is from 1946 but has been repaired / parts replaced from time to time. My husband was a Mr. Fix-it but now that he died, I'm trying to put off calling a plumber until I can have the kitchen & bathroom redone on 2nd floor & am not ready yet. I live in whole house but it's nice to have a working kitchen sink for breakfast, etc. on 2nd floor where I sleep.
2011-10-10T23:33:00Z
HAS ANYONE EVER USED something like "Mighty Putty" or plumber's cement to patch a hole? did it work? You knead it and then put it all over the pipe & when it dries, you can use sandpaper over it or paint it? Any comments? They're also advertising a spray on rubber to repair leaks, any ideas on these products?
2011-10-12T18:52:50Z
Thanks to everybody for your ideas; it's greatly appreciated. I guess no one ever used an enzyme cleaner for septic systems or clogs in pipes?
Anonymous2011-10-08T19:41:22Z
Favorite Answer
Underneath the sink you will find the drain pipe which will have a J or U shaped bend in it called a P-Trap. Loosen the nuts on either end of the trap and remove it. If the clog is in the trap you can clean it out from either end now. If it is further down, you can always try rodding it with the snake from the next juncture, which would be the pipe that the trap connected to. It is probably best to take that pipe off too, it should have a nut fastening it to the main drain where it penetrates the wall. You can go to a hardware store and get one of those hand operated augers that is a drum with any length of rod in it for very cheap. You loosen the set screw that holds the rod in place to hand feed it into the drain, then tighten that screw back up so it will hold the rod while you crank the wheel on the drum. Any of this is relatively simple to do and much cheaper than a plumber. When you are putting the pipes back together, make sure the gaskets are in good shape, otherwise it might leak. The gaskets are so cheap they are almost free though if you want to replace them.
You may think this is off the wall, like I did when a plumber told me. I actually laughed as he was telling me. I was working in a large grocery store. In the deli section with large ovens for cooking chickens. When we cleaned the ovens everything was dumped down a 12 inch drain sewer pipe, well you know what happens after a while. After the plumber came out and open the clogged drain, he said to put one gallon of Clorox bleach down the drain once a week. The grocery store had no more drain problems. The plumber said that Clorox bleach was a better drain open than all of the liquid plumber etc on the market. Some times on stubborn clog drain you will need to use extra clorox bleach and let it set over night. If there is a lot of standing water in the sink you will need to use extra Clorox bleach. Now I use Clorox bleach in my drains on a monthly basis's as maintenance, 32ozs in all sink, 32ozs in the washer discharge drain some time more, and gallon in the main basement floor drain, and let them set overnight. The Plumber said to use Clorox bleach only, that is the only one that will work. Good Luck.
Obviously there is a clog and it appears that it may be further than your snake can reach. I would not wait. but call the plumber to clean that drain.now. Doing that might eliminate a lot of problems later. Learned that lesson when a pipe split and it could have been saved a little longer with a clean out, but the clog put to much pressure on it.
If you ran too much stuff down your disposal that will clog the trap.
Put your stopper on one side of the sink and have someone hold it in tightly while you fill the other side half full of water and use a plunger - that always works for me.