Snake kitchen sink too often

I understand. But the OP didn't mention that so that's why I had asked.

In "my" recent situation, for example, there was no p-trap plug to remove; so I went through the outside 2" access pipe; yet, to actually *snake* the kitchen drain, would have taken a much smaller diameter than your typical snakes are, because of the way a kitchen drain is designed (so that stuff doesn't go down it, I guess).

Reply to
Danny D.
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I didn't look at the business end of the snake, but I don't THINK it was like the picture of the bit that another poster put on this thread.

I couldn't snake the kitchen sink because of the built-in "basket". he mickey-mouse snake I bought at a homeowner place was useless. Disposal was not at fault.

Plumber went in through the *outside* drain as usual. While waiting for him I unscrewed plug to let the yeccch water out of the sink (probably nourished the plant nearby!). Used sink sparingly; water flowed freely out into the ground.

A few weeks earlier, I had had plumber out to deal with a pinhole leak in ancient pipe under sink. He replaced that old cast-iron plus another under sink pipe, so the backup wouldn't have been due to those. It was down the line.

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

said it was grease and ? sludge?

he garbage can before I soak fry pan in soap & water. I hardly use disposa l at all; scrape food into compost jar.

et clear answer.

Sounds like we use the same moderation, so I don't know how to explain **** two snakings**** within 4-1/2 months!!! I asked & asked him whether he had encountered any special resistance but he said no. I didn't think to ask how far down he had gone. Bottom line was that water was draining freely after snaking.

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

er said it was grease and ? sludge?

the garbage can before I soak fry pan in soap & water. I hardly use dispo sal at all; scrape food into compost jar.

get clear answer.

**two snakings**** within 4-1/2 months!!! I asked & asked him whether he h ad encountered any special resistance but he said no. I didn't think to a sk how far down he had gone. Bottom line was that water was draining freel y after snaking.

Addendum:

Several answers on this thread about what to put down drain to forestall pr oblems.

One said boiling water. One said rock salt mixture. One said powdered ?? from homeowner store. (Incidentally, someone told me once that plumbers lo ve to have you use those drain cleaners because it makes work for them. **

*IS THIS TRUE?***

Finally, ******what about plumber's recommendation of bleach?******

TX for all the help.

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

  1. Hot water - REALLY hot water - *may* help liquify grease. Hot water + detergent would do better.
  2. I guess rock salt might help if you have plant roots under your sink (to kill the plants).
  3. I don't know what "powdered ??" is.

  1. Bleach would kill most of the germs; the one's it didn't kill would then begin reproducing like mad. Beyond that, it won't do squat.

If you want to dissolve organic matter - grease, hair, food particles, whatever - lye is the thing. Lye in the form of crystalline Drano. Follow the instructions, it won't hurt your pipes

FWIW, in 60 years I have never had a kitchen sink stop up. Bathroom, yes...hair down the draun which Drano promptly ate up.

Reply to
dadiOH

Exactly. You can try a coat hanger, or any number of long thin objects - but - otherwise - you have to take

*something* apart to snake the kitchen sinks I know.

Seems to me, the cost of a plumber, far (far) outweighs the cost of good equipment.

I don't know what good equipment might be, but the guys here certainly do.

For me, that's the following:

  1. An assortment of plumbing wrenches from the plumbing tools section at Home Depot (approximately 0)
  2. A 25 foot (drill mounted) snake (approximately )
  3. A 50 foot hand snake (approximately )
  4. A 75 foot motor operated snake (approximately 0)

My total costs are less than $500 and I *think* I can handle almost any clog that I'll be hit with.

How much did that one plumbing visit cost you?

Reply to
Danny D.

$50.00. That's on par with the whole "roto-rooter" category of large drain opening companies. I checked prices in this area.

I preferred to use the boss of this small operation -- whom I had used before -- rather than taking potluck with a worker hired by one of the biggies who might or might not be as qualified.

Thanks for info about tools. If I ran an apt. rental I might consider stocking up on the tools you mention, but it's just my own home.

UB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

Only hair down drain chez moi is in the shower(s) Should I put boiling wat er or??? down those drains as a precaution?

Re" too-frequent kitchen snaking, I would love to find SOMEBODY to blame. Since I'm so careful about grease, etc. and rarely use the disposal, it mig ht have been someone who stayed here from March through June, but I'll neve r know; it never occurred to me to monitor their kitchen habits. Would also like to find someone to blame for the just-finished expen$ive ba throom sink job. However, the (*&&^%$ blocking the ancient cast iron? pipe removed from under the house must go back to the Pleistocene. Just my luck to get stuck with the resultant build-up.

Now I hope the plumbing Gods will find someone else to afflict...at least f or a while!

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

Holy cow! Out here, *nothing* is even close to $50.

Actually, I've *never* called one, but, I can't believe it wouldn't be a few hundred just to get them to show up at the door.

At $50, that's practically free, so, I'd call the plumber every time something went wrong - if those prices are the norm.

(Where the heck do you live that a service is *that* cheap? Just their SS taxes and expenses are far far far far greater than $50 per hour where I live).

EDIT: Googling, I find plumbers are $75 to $150 per hour, and, I'd be surprised if I could get one that cheap:

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Reply to
Danny D.

Maybe it's because he's the owner and does ONLY snaking drains? This is hi s 2nd visit, same price. Note that I checked out "roto-rooter"-type compa nies on-line and they ran about the same for (I assume) simple snaking. I preferred this single-owner guy who, I think, had better skills.

I'm surprised that you're surprised at the price. because this is an afflue nt small city where everything costs more.

On the high side -- I think? - it cost me $645 for a licensed plumber to r emove and replace an ancient cast iron pipe that was stopping up the bathro om sink. Involved going into the crawl space under the house. You don't w ant to know what the corpse looked like ...ewwww.

%645 seems like a LOT of money to me! But what were my choices? This plum ber was recommended by a friend,. Earlier he had charged only $59.50 to f ix a leak under kitchen sink (involved removing ANOTHER ancient cast-iron p ipe!).

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

$100 to $300 in tools (which are amortized over jobs) $100 to $200 for a camera (so you can ask good questions) $100 in parts (but you get *good* parts for that price!) $45/year for a USENET subscription to alt.home.repair

----------- $645

Reply to
Danny D.

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