Is your kitchen sink clogged?
A clogged kitchen sink can be a disaster, as dishes stack up and cooking comes to a halt.
Instead of settling in to watch your favorite series, you'll find yourself staring at a sink full of dirty, backed-up water and wondering whether to call in an expensive plumber...
I will show you how you can clear your drains and will teach you to unclog a kitchen sink.
Common Cause Clogged Sink
First you have to know why your sink is clogged.
You can avoid most clogs by not abusing your kitchen drain line. Don't overload your disposer with meat; foods high in starch, like pasta, potatoes and rice; or foods high in fiber, like celery and corn husks.
Also, run plenty of cold water down the drain and let the disposer catch up after every cup of food you push into it.
Never dump bacon grease into the drain. Grease will solidify in the drain if it's settled and cooled.
Coffee ground can work very good as maintenance. It will 'scrub' your drains.
Before you start
Before we start you need to have these tools for this DIY project lined up. This will save you time and lots of frustration:
- Clamps
- Allen wrench (Hex Key)
- Pipe wrench
- Pliers
- Plunger
- Drain Snake
- Towels
Let's get rid of the clog!
1. Check the Trap Before you Plunge
Blockages that occur in the P-trap and trap arm of the drain most often occur when grease sticks. I recommend to check your trap before you plunge with tools. Most of the time you can disassemble and clean out the P-trap in a few minutes.
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Keep a bucket underneath the kitchen sink; dirty water will flow out can cause a mess. Drain lines can be made of plastic or metal. The older kitchen sinks are most of the time drained with metal pipes.
Metal slip nuts are usually more difficult to loosen than plastic, but either will probably require the use of slip-joint pliers to break them free.
Loosen them gently to avoid cracking or bending the trap assembly.
Unscrew the slip nut between the P-trap and the trap arm first, then the nut at the bottom of the waste tee. If the trap is clogged, clean it, reinstall it and test the line with warm water.
Don't over-tighten the slip nuts because this can break them. Hand tight plus a quarter turn with pliers should be enough.
If the P-trap isn't clogged, move on and remove the trap arm and clean it.
Run a screwdriver around the inside of the pipe stub-out and pull out any debris that may have collected in the opening.
If you still haven't found the clog, reach for the plunger!
2. Unclog a Sink with a Plunger
Allright, there is nothing in the trap that causes the blockage. It is probably down the drain beyond the trap.
We will use a regular plunger now. If there is another sink next to the clogged sink then hold a wet piece of cloth tightly over one sink drain to seal it and set the plunger over the other drain.
Run the tap and fill the sink with enough water so that it covers the head of the plunger.
Move the plunger in an up and down motion, in a vigorous fashion. Move the plunger about 30 seconds.
The water should be moving fairly well so if it is not then the problem is probably related to a pocket of air that is still able to escape through the overflow opening. Forcefully stuff the rag further into the opening.
Pop the plunger off the mouth of the drain for extra pressure on your last upstroke. The water should swirl down the drain straight after your last upstroke.
If this doesn't happen then repeat the above steps a few times.
Towels are always handy to soak up spills.
If you haven't cleared the kitchen sink by now then you should try a drain snake.
3. Unclog a Sink with a Snake
So'if the trap isn't clogged then the obstacle is down the drain. You have to use a drain snake unclog the kitchen sink.
Begin by loosening the setscrew at the tip of the snake and pulling out 6 to 10 inches of cable.
Then tighten the setscrew and spin the snake down into the drain line.
Initially you may feel an obstruction, but it's likely that the tip of the snake is just turning a corner. Loosen the setscrew, pull out another 6 to 10 inches of cable and continue to feed the snake into the line.
If you feel the cable hit an obstruction, continue cranking and pushing the cable through the clog until you feel the tip bite through.
This should be obvious because the tension in the cable will drop. When you are through the clog, turn the crank counterclockwise and pull out the cable.
Clean the cable as you pull; it'll probably be covered with incredibly dirty gunk which smells badly. You may get a large plug of material at the end of the snake, so keep that bucket handy.
Repeat the process until you no longer feel blockage, then reassemble the trap and run plenty of warm water to flush the line.
4. Call in a Plumber
However, if you have followed these steps of this article and still can't clear the blockage, don't hesitate to call in a plumber.
There is a big chance that you may have a clog far down the drain line beyond your reach, or stuck objects in the pipes.
