Clogged Sink Drain

One of the more unpleasant events of the holiday season is the clogged sink drain. All that cooking; all those vegetables being sliced and diced; all that left-over food being fed into the garbage disposal. Right in the middle of clean up, usually late in the evening, the inevitable occurs a clogged sink drain; the sink backs up, the dishwasher can’t be used, and the whole household is disrupted.

Garbage disposals can certainly cause or contribute to clogged sink drains but sinks without garbage disposals can clog just from grease or other matter going down the drain. To ascertain if the garbage disposal is contributing to the clogged sink drain, take a broom handle or any wooden stick, 1” or larger, and try to turn the garbage disposal with the stick. NEVER put your hand in the garbage disposal and NEVER use a metal tool inside the disposal as either of these practices can cause injury.

Remember to always put safety first. If you can’t turn the disposal with the broom handle or turning it does not help with the clogged sink drain, then it’s time to fix the clogged sink drain.

Tools you will need: (1) a sewer snake to put into the clogged sink drain line to break up the clogged sink drain. There are several types available. The first type is a hand-cranked snake with a ¼” spring or tape 25 feet long that feeds into the line and is cranked into and out of the clogged sink drain line by hand.
(2) A power sewer snake (more about that later). (3) A pair of heavy-duty leather gloves to protect your hands and wrists. (4) Eye protection should be worn, especially if you are working with a power drain auger. (5) A bucket to catch water from the clogged sink drain. (6) Rags to clean up.

Look under the sink at the drain pipes. Most newer homes have 1-1/2” PVC drain lines. Older homes may have 1-1/2” cast iron drains. Some plumbing systems have a clean out plug for clogged sink drain under the sink. If the plug is easy to remove, this would be a good place to work from. Be sure to have a bucket under the sink to catch any excess water when you remove the plug from the clogged sink drain. If the plug is PVC and is glued into place, don’t force it. You could break it off in the wall and that would be an expensive repair. If the plug is stiff and doesn’t turn at your first real try, leave it alone and concentrate on the main drain line.

To start this process, put a bucket in the area under the sink to catch excess water. Take the disposal loose from the sewer line at the back where it is attached to the drain. Remove the bucket that caught the excess water from the clogged sink drain and put the end of the sewer tape/spring in the sewer line and begin to crank it in.

The sewer line may make some 45° or 90° turns in the wall. When you reach one of these, the tape may become harder to turn. You will have no way of knowing if you are at a corner or hitting the clog in the line. Turn the crank a few times. If you make no progress, crank the line back out of the wall and check the end of the tape/spring. If you find vegetable matter or other material hung in the end, it will indicate that you have probably hit the clog. You are now beginning the trial and error process. Put the bucket back under the sink; use a hose to run a small amount of water into the clogged line to see if it drains. If after several attempts you are not making progress, you may need to rent or purchase a power drain cleaner.

Power machines make the process quite a bit easier as they power the sewer snake through the line forward and backwards as you press a switch. The cable size in these machines varies from ¼” to ½”.
For household drains, drains that are encased in sheetrock walls, I do not recommend using anything larger than 3/8”. A ½” cable is capable of shattering PVC drain pipes and damaging sheetrock walls. If you are unable to break the clog with a power 3/8” drain machine, you probably need to call in a plumber. The large machines are designed for use on 3” or 4” yard lines.

Using the power machine to clear the clogged sink drain, insert the cable end into the drain line and feed in as much line as the drain will take. Pull the cable back to the housing and then feed it back in. Make several attempts and them test the sewer line. If it looks like the line is draining, test by hooking the garbage disposal to the sewer line and running water through it or use a hose to run water into the sewer line. These power machines have the ability to break up clogs and move them into the main sewer lines and out of your life.

Remember to be patient when doing a job of this type. You don’t want to damage your kitchen sewer line while removing the clog. Wear protective equipment and good luck!