My sink is clogged !!!!

So when you have a clogged sink what is the first thing the average home owner is going to do? They are going to the store and then they are going to buy some Draino and pour it down the drain, and then once the Draino is poured down the drain it should be unclogged right? Maybe, sometimes products like Draino work but in my honest opinion the product doesn’t do a good job.

The main reason that sink and bath drains get clogged is from excessive hair build up. If you have very little hair build up and you notice that the water is draining slower than normal then this would be the time to use a liquid type product like Drain to get rid of the hair. If your sink is draining very slowly do not bother with any products that are in liquid or rock form, they are most likely not going to work.

If you are experiencing a kitchen sink draining slow and it has a garbage disposal do not use any so-called drain buster products, it will damage your garbage disposal and will not clear up shit. If your kitchen sink is clogged and it has a garbage disposal the disposal might be jammed up. I wrote a post or two on this so look it up if you want to.

So what I recommend you should do before you go out and waste money on these drain cleaning products is first of check the P-trap under the sink. The P-trap is shaped like a J and traps stuff that shouldn’t go through the drain piping system. They are usually easily disassembled so that you can clean them out, this is a common clog problem for kitchen and bathroom sinks. So check that first, and if the P-trap or “J-Bend” is clear then the clog is further down the drain piping.

If you have a plunger it wouldn’t hurt to fill the sink up with water and start plunging away, this will sometimes push the blockage down the drain piping to where it will not clog up your drain piping. I have found this technique to work sometimes but it is not promising.

The best way in my opinion is to invest about 25-50 bucks in a good hand snake, or small auger. The snake is safe, it can be used over and over and it is the most efficient way to unclog bathroom and kitchen sinks. But take note, if the clog is after the J-Bend this is the only time you will need a snake, and this usually is not the case. 75% of the service calls that I get for clogged sinks the blockage is in the J-Bend or right above it. The other 25% I use the snake and have a good success rate. The hand snake I use is a drill and it is 25 feet long. And this has a high success rate, when the hand snake doesn’t work, I simply call a plumber. I call a plumber because I don’t pay for it, the company I work for pays the plumber. If a measly 25 foot hand snake doesn’t work this means the main drain line is clogged. The most common thing that clogs up main drain lines is baby wipes, or “wet wipes”. I will explain more in a future post about main drain lines and how to unclog them and why they get clogged. I am tired and need to sign off, until then, cheers from the Tampa Bay Handyman.