Help! Pipe problems

So glad I found this site...I hope someone can help us.

Our kitchen sink makes some funky bongo sounds after the sink drains. I understood that to be air in the pipes, which did not bother us since the sink drained fine.

Well, about a week ago, the sink would not drain so we did the Draino thing but nothing happened. We went to the outside access panel( the pipes run under the house in the crawlspace) and my husband cleaned out the line with a hose.That worked for about a day,then drained really slow.

But, the funny thing is when he removes the cap on the pipe outside to put the hose in, the sink drains! As soon as he puts the cap back, the pipes fill back up and drain SO SLOW!!

Any reasoning behind this and what should we do about it?

Ruth

clog

You are describing a plugged sink drain. The hose ain'ta gona do it.

The drain needs to be professionally cleaned with proper equipment or he can do it himself with a proper snake. From the sink trap to the main drain is the way to go.

Well,

We took all the drain pipes out from under the sink and have cleaned them out...there were no clogs. We snaked the big main pipe under the sink and got nothing.

We also did the acid thing. It cleaned out alot of scum along the pipes but it still backs up.

You may have a grease clog in which the snake will go through it and back and you will have the same problem again. Try using the hotest water you can get while snaking the line pulling it back and fourth. You could also have a belly and grease. This is how to check and see if you have a belly. Look down at your belt buckle and..... oh ya plumbing....... See if your husband can get a 2' or 4' level and run it along the bottom of the pipe from the kitchen to the stack and be sure that the bubble is always high towards the kitchen. The bubble should always be touching or past the line on the site glass that is closest to the kitchen. If you reach an area of the pipe that the bubble is level or on the wrong side of the site glass that is where your problem is.

drain

I wouldn't do acid or lye or any chemical. These can do harm and probably nothing good.

Now, the best way I could clean that drain would be to install a tee and a plug right at your sink trap and run my snake totally through the sink drain with the traps connected, being sure that I had used enough snake to get into the main drain. If you could start the water flowing into the drain before you remove the snake you'll know the drain is working . Then run just the hot water while bringing the snake out and you will have done a perfect drain cleaning. If you do it that way you won't have much cleaning up to do either.

thanks for the help

We will try both suggestions.

BTW, Great website!!

drain

You have a drain problem and possibly also a vent problem. The drain problem, whatever it is, is preventing all the water from leaving the pipe, and the vent problem is trapping air between the sink and that water, which is why it drains when he removes the cap and lets the air out. This could be due to the plumber having taken the "cheap" route and used an air admitance valve for a vent, in which case properly clearing the drain will cure it. Or the vent through the roof may be clogged in which case you have to clear it also after attending to the drain.