Clogged drain? Where to start?
 

Our daughter texted me and said there is water underneath her washing machine and the kitchen sink is backing up with dirty water.

I’m guessing the house is about 25 to 30 years old and they’ve been there about a year.

From the picture, you can see they pulled the washing machine out to dry underneath it. Would you say the water is going from the wash machine towards the kitchen sink and potentially clog down line from there?

The garage is to the far right, so I have to think it’s going from the washing machine towards the kitchen sink.

Everything else, seems to be functioning OK.

Would you try chemicals to try unclogging it or running a snake? With a P-trap at the kitchen sink and the washing machine, would a snake work?

I didn’t take the picture!😂

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Washing machine discharges water very fast...if there is a slight clog down-stream it will back up.

There is a p-trap at the washing machine?

If it was built to code, there is a P-trap. Otherwise, you would get sewer gases.

There better be a P trap for the washing machine. That looks like a newer house so it is usually in wall. Snake it from there. I bet is lint along with a combination of other stuff like fat and food that cause the clog. Again, it may not be that depending if the kitchen drains before the washing machine or not. Often there's not enough water to flush toilet paper down into the main stack so it get stuck and cause all kinds of trouble. You need to snake the drain. Time to call the smell good Plumber (Radio commercial joke around here).

I wouldn't bother with chemicals. I'd go for a snake. I assume the drain for the washer is easy to get to, so I'd probably start the snake there. I'm sure the kitchen sink and washer are on the same drain line, so whatever is blocking one is also blocking the other. Starting at the washer seems like it would put the snake closer to the clog. I never bother with the cheap, short snakes. I always go with something like the following. I look for the sleeve at the front that's got the thumb screw to be metal, and I look for something that's 25'. I know there is better, more heavy duty stuff, but that's always worked for me and if it didn't, I figure it's better to call in a pro.

https://image.made-in-china.com/202f...Auger-Tool.jpg

I tried one of those long ago. It was too short and too big a pain to use (compared to the one in my post above).

A difference in plumbing...my washing machine doesn't discharge into the sewer line.
I have a septic tank system and a grey water discharge for the wm....no p-trap on it.

I see Lowes has one that is similar and uses a drill. Plus, a self powered snake.


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What is that thing, a jump rope? Rent the med size snake from HD or a home center and get that thing in there to clean our any other potential clogs. Do it once and they are good for a long time.

Get a chemical with sulfuric acid in it to burn all the grease or hair away. I use it all the time. It takes some time for the acid to burning away any metal unless the cast iron pipes is 100 years old. It cleans traps really , really well in baths and kitchens. I leave it for 10- no more then 15 min. It heats up the trap way while its doing it job. Flush with water for 15 min. Done. Don't poour that stuff in your garbage disposal.

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I'm assuming the drain from the kitchen sink and washer join at some point. I had a similar problem two weeks ago where the drain from the kitchen sink and the sink in the nearby washroom were both backing up. In my basement (under the kitchen floor) I was able to see where these drain pipes joined onto the main drain pipe. (The large 5"pipe) Fortunately I was able to separate the sink drains from
the large drain pipe. The pipes were clogged at that point and I am assuming it was mainly from too much use of the garbarator and not enough flushing afterwards. Regardless, it was plugged so with a couple of tools ( 12" pry bar and snake) I was able to clear most of it away. I poured a generous amount of draino into that joint area and let it sit for 30 min or so.
Screwed it all back together, flushed it all with copious amounts of boiling water and it hasn't given a problem since.
In retrospect I suspect somebody is pouring a bit too much fat or bacon grease thru the garborator.
BTW, my house is over 70 yrs so plugged pipes can be expected.

the one that I got was shorter and much cheaper. That looks like a decent quality part. It still looks like a pain to use, and potentially messier than when the snake is contained in a drum.

Get that puppy stuck deep in there, have fun getting it out. I like the drum with an electric motor and a foot switch so both hands can be used to guide the snake through. Again, I haven't done stuff like that for a very long time. I call my plumber. Easier and cleaner.

She wants me to swing by the house on our way to our friends house for dinner…

I don’t have any of the tools to do the job, so I’m not sure what I can do at this point.

If they cannot get it unclogged, I’ll call my plumber.

I saw someone use one of those big foot switch models once. Those are the shizzle! I could never justify the cost.
Right, even if you had a 25' snake, do you really want to get that nasty on the way to dinner?
ROFLMAO!

Anything else backing up? I would open the sewer cleanup and verify there is flow. The washing machine might be the last thing downstream and it just backed up first.

Make sure you wash your hands before you eat. You know what they say the three things plumbers know? Siht flows down hill, Friday is pay day and do not bite your finger nails.

Hell, who buys that big thing unless they do is for a living. Rent them for 40-50 bucks (maybe more now?). I know some restaurant owners have them in their storage room. This is something they can't wait for the plumber.

For me absolutely worth paying the $400 for a 75’ powered snake to clear out my main line under the basement floor that recently clogged……which also backed up my washing machine…dish and laundry, and kitchen sink….I rented one from HD. Got it home and the snake line was bent rendering it useless. Had to carry it back up stairs and return for another one. These things are very heavy. HD doesn’t check operating condition once returned as they should. Never again will I rent one.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1142588-ever-seen-cast-iron-pipe-split-like.html


As for the little hand held ones, definitely do not buy one that can not be attached to a power drill

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Just an FYI. If any of you have the Ryobi One 18v stuff they have a decent priced drain auger (which has saved me and friends a few times)....

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-ONE-18V-Drain-Auger-Tool-Only-P4001/206405601

We went by the house after dinner. Not much to look at, but I told them what to do.

I don’t know where the clean outs are on the outside of the house, but they are on the crawlspace in there might be one or more down there.

Unfortunately, the crawlspace is about 2 feet high. I’m not going in there.

I'll absolutely remember that for the future!

I spent a lot of time under our place this summer, and once the weather cools off a bit, I need to spend some more time under the house. Ours starts at 2' on one side, but then drops down to probably about 12 on the other side. It's no fun. The bright spot is that one side of the house is completely open. I know a lot of houses are nearly completely enclosed with just a little venting or maybe one or 2 small access hatches. Screw that.

I’m a residential home builder, so I’ll send my plumber over, before I go into the crawlspace. There’s plumbing pipes and ductwork in that 2 feet.

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No clean out under the kitchen sink? There should be one under there

Sometimes you can avoid the traps by coming down the vent pipe from the roof. I had to do that in my kitchen with a 50 foot snake.

There’s a p-trap underneath, that can be disassembled, to send the snake in the wall.

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This.

A P-trap that can't be disassembled? Never heard of that. Getting one of the spring type augers in there at the sink is the best option. Those big sewer augers with the electric motor on them can wreck your 1 1/2 or 2" lines. You don't want one punching a hole in an ell somewhere in a wall.

start with a plunger, at the sink - see what happens. proceed accordingly.

Had the same problem years back and kept returning after augering with a snake. Bought a $30 sewer jetter and fixed it permanently.

Yes - I have one and it works great.

But the last time I used it - had an issue where the snake got stopped somewhere.

I also had some under sink plumbing issues so called a local plumber.

He got the under sink stuff done nicely and then used a hand crank snake (old school) and it worked great.

Very reasonable cost and may use them again when I re-do my water heater plumbing.

I'm generally a DIY guy but everyone has their limitations and next best thing is to have a go-to person to get 'er dun! :)

The plumber did mention using very hot water really helps move stuff down the line......

You will likely regret buying a 25' auger. I would consider 50' to be the minimum acceptable.