I recently purchased a house with a double sink in the kitchen. The
smaller sink is a couple of inches higher than the larger sink. My
problem is when I wash dishes in either sink, the soap suds come out
the drain of the other sink. It's not a big deal, more of an
annoyance, but I figure this type of setup has been around for years
and I'm sure it's not designed to work this way. I took apart all of
the plumbing underneath the sink and it's clear, including the trap. I
don't have any drainage problems either. Is there something I can do
this fix this. I only use the larger sink to wash and rinse. I'd
rather have a single sink, but it's too costly to change now. TIA.

Generally this is an indication of a partial blockage in the waste line
going from the sink to the main sewer line. This is typically a run of 1
1/2" pipe going from behind the sink down into the basement (if you have
one), where it will somehow join the main building drain (3" or 4" pipe).
You say you "don't have any drainage problems", but what exactly does that
mean? I would guess that if you get stuff coming up in the other drain,
then the water is not running out of the sink any too fast.

You could consider running a snake through this 1 1/2 inch pipe. There
should be a cleanout in the basement, and that is a place to start. If that
doesn't fix it, snake from the sink down to the cleanout as well.


"Robert" wrote in message
om...
I recently purchased a house with a double sink in the kitchen. The
smaller sink is a couple of inches higher than the larger sink. My
problem is when I wash dishes in either sink, the soap suds come out
the drain of the other sink. It's not a big deal, more of an
annoyance, but I figure this type of setup has been around for years
and I'm sure it's not designed to work this way. I took apart all of
the plumbing underneath the sink and it's clear, including the trap. I
don't have any drainage problems either. Is there something I can do
this fix this. I only use the larger sink to wash and rinse. I'd
rather have a single sink, but it's too costly to change now. TIA.

"Robert" wrote in message
om...
I recently purchased a house with a double sink in the kitchen. The
smaller sink is a couple of inches higher than the larger sink. My
problem is when I wash dishes in either sink, the soap suds come out
the drain of the other sink. It's not a big deal, more of an
annoyance, but I figure this type of setup has been around for years
and I'm sure it's not designed to work this way. I took apart all of
the plumbing underneath the sink and it's clear, including the trap. I
don't have any drainage problems either. Is there something I can do
this fix this. I only use the larger sink to wash and rinse. I'd
rather have a single sink, but it's too costly to change now. TIA.

That's a common problem when lots of dish detergent is used. Just put the
drain stopper in the small sink. If you don't have one, they are available at
any hardware or home center.

Tom J

When I say I have no drainage problems I mean I can run any of the
sinks in the house wide open and there is no backup at all, the drain
handles all the water. The only thing that doesn't drain properly is
the tub, and only when I run the water out of the faucet. It kind of
backs up but does drain. When I take a shower it doesn't backup at
all. My father said it's because the 3" drainage pipe can't handle the
quantity of water when it's running wide open thru the faucet. The
only thing that doesn't make sense is, isn't the same amount of water
coming out of the shower head, or is it being restricted in some way.
I'll investigate the drain problem you mention. The inside of the PVC
pipe under the kitchen sink does have a coating of junk, but maybe
this is normal with the amount of crap most people put down the sink.

Another responder mentioned using too much soap. This is a possibilty,
I do tend to do this. I realize suds don't actually clean, but it's
more of a mental thing thinking I'm doing a better cleaning job. :=)
Maybe I should just use the dishwasher...

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond.

"donald girod" wrote in message ...
Generally this is an indication of a partial blockage in the waste line
going from the sink to the main sewer line. This is typically a run of 1
1/2" pipe going from behind the sink down into the basement (if you have
one), where it will somehow join the main building drain (3" or 4" pipe).
You say you "don't have any drainage problems", but what exactly does that
mean? I would guess that if you get stuff coming up in the other drain,
then the water is not running out of the sink any too fast.

You could consider running a snake through this 1 1/2 inch pipe. There
should be a cleanout in the basement, and that is a place to start. If that
doesn't fix it, snake from the sink down to the cleanout as well.


"Robert" wrote in message
om...
I recently purchased a house with a double sink in the kitchen. The
smaller sink is a couple of inches higher than the larger sink. My
problem is when I wash dishes in either sink, the soap suds come out
the drain of the other sink. It's not a big deal, more of an
annoyance, but I figure this type of setup has been around for years
and I'm sure it's not designed to work this way. I took apart all of
the plumbing underneath the sink and it's clear, including the trap. I
don't have any drainage problems either. Is there something I can do
this fix this. I only use the larger sink to wash and rinse. I'd
rather have a single sink, but it's too costly to change now. TIA.