Got home from a week vacation and the bathroom sink drains very very
slooowly.
Asked my Daughter if she knew what happened? (her first time alone for a
week!)
She doesn't know of anything going down the drain????
I took apart the pvc trap under the sink. Inside of pipes are pretty slimy
but nothing there.
I ran a snake into the line going into the wall. It got about 5 - feet in
and hit something. That seem about where the line would connect to go down
so I don't know if I'm hitting an obstruction or a T in the line.???
Tonight I'm going to put the trap back together and fill with water and try
plunging the sink.

I don't want to do as my wife suggests and pour drain cleaner down the
drain.
If that didn't clear it I would then have to deal with caustic chemicals in
the line....

If the plunging doesn't work tonight what would be my next step????
By removing shelves downstairs I think I could get access to the plumbing.
If it comes to that I could cut the drain and replace part of it but
obviously I'm looking for a better solution???

What do you think is this just hair and gunk or a physical blockage?
I would think anything big enough to block the drain would have gotten
caught in the trap?
When I pulled the snake back, after twisting it, It did pull some crud out
but that could have been from scraping along the bottom of the plumbing.

I'm on a septic system that's in pretty poor condition.

Any suggestions other than calling in a plumber????

How about HOT water down the drain???

Or just keep twisting the snake at the obstruction and pulling anything that
hooks on back out the end??

TIA

Steve

try reakky hot near boiling water down all your drains. the clog may
be at a T so flushing everywhere can be useful.

you might also consioder pressuring the drain line with a garden hose
to flush it, try the hot water first

On Jan 30, 9:43 am, "comcastss news groups"
wrote:
Got home from a week vacation and the bathroom sink drains very very
slooowly.
Asked my Daughter if she knew what happened? (her first time alone for a
week!)
She doesn't know of anything going down the drain????
I took apart the pvc trap under the sink. Inside of pipes are pretty slimy
but nothing there.
I ran a snake into the line going into the wall. It got about 5 - feet in
and hit something. That seem about where the line would connect to go down
so I don't know if I'm hitting an obstruction or a T in the line.???
Tonight I'm going to put the trap back together and fill with water and try
plunging the sink.

I don't want to do as my wife suggests and pour drain cleaner down the
drain.
If that didn't clear it I would then have to deal with caustic chemicals in
the line....

If the plunging doesn't work tonight what would be my next step????
By removing shelves downstairs I think I could get access to the plumbing.
If it comes to that I could cut the drain and replace part of it but
obviously I'm looking for a better solution???

What do you think is this just hair and gunk or a physical blockage?
I would think anything big enough to block the drain would have gotten
caught in the trap?
When I pulled the snake back, after twisting it, It did pull some crud out
but that could have been from scraping along the bottom of the plumbing.

I'm on a septic system that's in pretty poor condition.

Any suggestions other than calling in a plumber????

How about HOT water down the drain???

Or just keep twisting the snake at the obstruction and pulling anything that
hooks on back out the end??

TIA


A few things to try

Plung backwards - fill the sink and gently push the plunger and yank
it backwards. Better to pull the obstruction back than force it
tighter.

Let the water run so the sink backs up and fills the line then put
your shop-vac hose over the drain to try and suck out the blockage.

Boiling water dumped in the sink after it drains down

Baking soda followed by vinegar

Snake - sometimes it takes quite a while to get past a turn. patience
and persistence. They have homeowner snakes at home cheapo that you
can connect to a drill, just make sure you use a variable speed drill.

Talk to the old guy at the plumbing store and ask him about drain
cleaners with septic systems. Don't ask at home cheapo

Call a plumber before you start cutting pipes...

Thanks, All good ideas I hadn't thought of...

Steve


"RayV" wrote in message
ps.com...


On Jan 30, 9:43 am, "comcastss news groups"
wrote:
Got home from a week vacation and the bathroom sink drains very very
slooowly.
Asked my Daughter if she knew what happened? (her first time alone for a
week!)
She doesn't know of anything going down the drain????
I took apart the pvc trap under the sink. Inside of pipes are pretty
slimy
but nothing there.
I ran a snake into the line going into the wall. It got about 5 - feet
in
and hit something. That seem about where the line would connect to go
down
so I don't know if I'm hitting an obstruction or a T in the line.???
Tonight I'm going to put the trap back together and fill with water and
try
plunging the sink.

I don't want to do as my wife suggests and pour drain cleaner down the
drain.
If that didn't clear it I would then have to deal with caustic chemicals
in
the line....

If the plunging doesn't work tonight what would be my next step????
By removing shelves downstairs I think I could get access to the
plumbing.
If it comes to that I could cut the drain and replace part of it but
obviously I'm looking for a better solution???

What do you think is this just hair and gunk or a physical blockage?
I would think anything big enough to block the drain would have gotten
caught in the trap?
When I pulled the snake back, after twisting it, It did pull some crud
out
but that could have been from scraping along the bottom of the plumbing.

I'm on a septic system that's in pretty poor condition.

Any suggestions other than calling in a plumber????

How about HOT water down the drain???

Or just keep twisting the snake at the obstruction and pulling anything
that
hooks on back out the end??

TIA


A few things to try

Plung backwards - fill the sink and gently push the plunger and yank
it backwards. Better to pull the obstruction back than force it
tighter.

Let the water run so the sink backs up and fills the line then put
your shop-vac hose over the drain to try and suck out the blockage.

Boiling water dumped in the sink after it drains down

Baking soda followed by vinegar

Snake - sometimes it takes quite a while to get past a turn. patience
and persistence. They have homeowner snakes at home cheapo that you
can connect to a drill, just make sure you use a variable speed drill.

Talk to the old guy at the plumbing store and ask him about drain
cleaners with septic systems. Don't ask at home cheapo

Call a plumber before you start cutting pipes...

On Jan 30, 9:43 am, "comcastss news groups"
wrote:
Got home from a week vacation and the bathroom sink drains very very
slooowly.

Our bathroom sink drain slowed down, and I did the snake-thru-the-trap
bit. No improvement.

Then I looked up on the web how to disassemble the pop-up. Did that
and pulled out a hunk of hair/gunk the size of a small rat. The drain
works again. I didn't read that you'd done that, so I suggest you try
it before calling the plummy. Good luck.

cheers,
jerry

On Jan 30, 12:41 pm, wrote:
On Jan 30, 9:43 am, "comcastss news groups"

wrote:
Got home from a week vacation and the bathroom sink drains very very
slooowly.Our bathroom sink drain slowed down, and I did the snake-thru-the-trap
bit. No improvement.

Then I looked up on the web how to disassemble the pop-up. Did that
and pulled out a hunk of hair/gunk the size of a small rat. The drain
works again. I didn't read that you'd done that, so I suggest you try
it before calling the plummy. Good luck.

cheers,
jerry

Good point. Sometimes the obvious isn't.

"RayV" wrote in message
ps.com...


On Jan 30, 9:43 am, "comcastss news groups"
wrote:
Got home from a week vacation and the bathroom sink drains very very
slooowly.
Asked my Daughter if she knew what happened? (her first time alone for a
week!)
She doesn't know of anything going down the drain????
I took apart the pvc trap under the sink. Inside of pipes are pretty
slimy
but nothing there.
I ran a snake into the line going into the wall. It got about 5 - feet in
and hit something. That seem about where the line would connect to go
down
so I don't know if I'm hitting an obstruction or a T in the line.???
Tonight I'm going to put the trap back together and fill with water and
try
plunging the sink.

I don't want to do as my wife suggests and pour drain cleaner down the
drain.
If that didn't clear it I would then have to deal with caustic chemicals
in
the line....

If the plunging doesn't work tonight what would be my next step????
By removing shelves downstairs I think I could get access to the
plumbing.
If it comes to that I could cut the drain and replace part of it but
obviously I'm looking for a better solution???

What do you think is this just hair and gunk or a physical blockage?
I would think anything big enough to block the drain would have gotten
caught in the trap?
When I pulled the snake back, after twisting it, It did pull some crud
out
but that could have been from scraping along the bottom of the plumbing.

I'm on a septic system that's in pretty poor condition.

Any suggestions other than calling in a plumber????

How about HOT water down the drain???

Or just keep twisting the snake at the obstruction and pulling anything
that
hooks on back out the end??

TIA


A few things to try

Plung backwards - fill the sink and gently push the plunger and yank
it backwards. Better to pull the obstruction back than force it
tighter.

Let the water run so the sink backs up and fills the line then put
your shop-vac hose over the drain to try and suck out the blockage.

Boiling water dumped in the sink after it drains down

Baking soda followed by vinegar

Snake - sometimes it takes quite a while to get past a turn. patience
and persistence. They have homeowner snakes at home cheapo that you
can connect to a drill, just make sure you use a variable speed drill.

Talk to the old guy at the plumbing store and ask him about drain
cleaners with septic systems. Don't ask at home cheapo

Call a plumber before you start cutting pipes...


Don't resort to chemicals unless you just can't figure anything out. I had
the same delimna with my bathtub drain and while it took about 2 hours to
get past the rusty P trap in my drain - I did finally managed to rip out
some of that hair clog with the auger. Plunging took care of the rest and
now I'm in Fat City. As Haller suggested - boiling water after you empty
the line with your Shop Vac.