First, thanks for listening to the new guy's problems. I live in Little Rock in a house built in 1954.
The wife's bathroom sink was running slow (happens every few months), and I ended up bringing home a sulfuric acid drain opener on the advice of a hardware store guy, which was my first mistake. After the first application, the drain was no better, so I made the second mistake and applied it again. Of course, before long, it had damaged the chrome trap under the sink, and I had a toxic leak onto lots of stuff stored in the cabinet below the sink.
On a plumber's advice, I used lots and lots of baking soda in the cabinet itself and flushed through our toilets in an attempt to neutralize the acid and avoid further damange to the pipes. The trap has since been replaced, but the short pipe between the bottom of the sink and the top of the new PVC trap has a slight leak that's also attributed to acid damage.
The plumber who replaced the trap was unable to get a snake fully through what he called the "dirty arm" and what I understand to be a steel pipe that takes wastewater from the trap down to the main drain. He and his boss claim the acid probably turned hair in that pipe "into concrete" and that the pipe must be replaced ($269 + tax first estimate). The acid/water/baking soda mix soaked the wooden bottom of the cabinet and some moisture is evident under the house. We have two small bathrooms, back-to-back, on an outer wall (in fact, there's only a wall between the two toilets).
Here are my questions, please:
The wife's bathroom sink was running slow (happens every few months), and I ended up bringing home a sulfuric acid drain opener on the advice of a hardware store guy, which was my first mistake. After the first application, the drain was no better, so I made the second mistake and applied it again. Of course, before long, it had damaged the chrome trap under the sink, and I had a toxic leak onto lots of stuff stored in the cabinet below the sink.
On a plumber's advice, I used lots and lots of baking soda in the cabinet itself and flushed through our toilets in an attempt to neutralize the acid and avoid further damange to the pipes. The trap has since been replaced, but the short pipe between the bottom of the sink and the top of the new PVC trap has a slight leak that's also attributed to acid damage.
The plumber who replaced the trap was unable to get a snake fully through what he called the "dirty arm" and what I understand to be a steel pipe that takes wastewater from the trap down to the main drain. He and his boss claim the acid probably turned hair in that pipe "into concrete" and that the pipe must be replaced ($269 + tax first estimate). The acid/water/baking soda mix soaked the wooden bottom of the cabinet and some moisture is evident under the house. We have two small bathrooms, back-to-back, on an outer wall (in fact, there's only a wall between the two toilets).
Here are my questions, please:
- Is it really possible for the acid to mix with hair and form a permanent clog?
- Because of the arrangement of our bathrooms as I've described, I've been told the clog can't be reached from the vent in the roof--does that sound correct?
- Is replacing the so-called "dirty arm" (no else uses that term around here) my only choice, or is there still a chance the pipe could be cleared with a snake/rooter?
- Just how toxic is this stuff, and what else can I do to neutralize it and the ordor other than constant ventilation? I know it has warnings and skulls on the package, but I think it oughta be outlawed!
- What's your opinion of that estimate?