digi
New Member
Hi plumbing experts,
I have a deep, deep bathroom sink pipe clog on the upstairs 2nd level in a 40 year old house and we've even had a plumber out and he couldn't fix it... in fact, he inadvertently made it worse.
My question is, how could a plumber possibly get a hold of a clog from a distance that is further away from the clog, from underneath the house, cutting in to a main drain pipe, that he couldn't get out from just a few feet away at the sink drain level where the sink is clogged on the 2nd level of the house?
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SHORT BACKGROUD STORY
The water would start filling the sink after only running for about 3 seconds, then it would take overnight to drain down again. I had just started using a little plastic tub in the sink and I would just dump the water in the toilet every so often because the sink became completely non-functional.
First I tried with taking off the curved trap pipe underneath the sink and taking off the pipe that goes in to the wall to let out all the water, then I went to it with a long, strong metal snake, and I thought I got it in there for about 20 feet worth, but then when I pulled it back out I could see that the snake and just curled up inside the pipe somewhere only about 5 or 10 feet down, so that didn't do any good.
Then I put the wall pipe back on and poured some Draino into the pipe until it was full. I left that over night and that didn't fix it.
So we called the plumber out with his motorized drain rooter. He went at it for a while, rooted the drain from the wall twice, and at first he made it a little better so the water could run for about 3 minutes before it started to fill up again. So he hoped he could break the clog loose by rooting it a third time, but apparently his rooter latched on to the clog and pulled it up further in to the pipe, and now the clog has pretty much completely sealed the drain shut and it fills up immediately and never really drains out at all.
That plumber said he could see that he made it worse after first making it better and he now says he'll need to get underneath the house and torch cut some main pipe under the house and then use the same type of rooting machine to try to get a hold of the clog from beneath, but the clog and the clogged drain are on the 2nd story of this house.
So it cost me $120 to make my sink worse so it is completely non-functional now and it doesn't drain at all, and the clog is apparently closer to the drain now than it was before because it starts filling the sink immediately when I run the water at all.
So I told that plumber that I'd think about paying more to have him go under the house with his new plan.
Now, after reading some stuff on the topic, I tried taking off the trap pipe again to let out the water, then I put it back together and poured a full, large bottle Draino in the drain to hopefully get to the clog which is apparently closer than ever to the sink drain now.
Then the next day, yesterday, I plugged and covered that overflow drain hole, put a plastic bag over the sink with the plunger stick coming through the plastic bag for splash safety, and I plunged it and plunged it, still with no success getting the clog to release.
Now today, as a last ditch effort, I read up some more about it and I plugged all the other drains in the house to create more pressure, put some hot water in the sink, really plugged that overflow hole, and I plunged the holy-heck out of that drain five times with a very tight plunger seal... it dredged up some dirt and I could tell it was really creating pressure on that overflow hole while I held a wet towel in place there plugging it very tight, but the clog still won't release.
So again, to reiterate, my question is, how could a plumber possibly get a hold of a clog from a distance that is further away from the clog, from underneath the house, cutting in to a main drain pipe, that he couldn't get out from just a few feet away at the sink drain level where the sink is clogged on the 2nd level of the house?
Thanks for any help and any suggestions on how I might handle this myself, since plumbers don't have camera guided nuclear missiles to take out this kind of tough clog, which is apparently what we need here.
Thanks a lot,
digi
I have a deep, deep bathroom sink pipe clog on the upstairs 2nd level in a 40 year old house and we've even had a plumber out and he couldn't fix it... in fact, he inadvertently made it worse.
My question is, how could a plumber possibly get a hold of a clog from a distance that is further away from the clog, from underneath the house, cutting in to a main drain pipe, that he couldn't get out from just a few feet away at the sink drain level where the sink is clogged on the 2nd level of the house?
_________________________
SHORT BACKGROUD STORY
The water would start filling the sink after only running for about 3 seconds, then it would take overnight to drain down again. I had just started using a little plastic tub in the sink and I would just dump the water in the toilet every so often because the sink became completely non-functional.
First I tried with taking off the curved trap pipe underneath the sink and taking off the pipe that goes in to the wall to let out all the water, then I went to it with a long, strong metal snake, and I thought I got it in there for about 20 feet worth, but then when I pulled it back out I could see that the snake and just curled up inside the pipe somewhere only about 5 or 10 feet down, so that didn't do any good.
Then I put the wall pipe back on and poured some Draino into the pipe until it was full. I left that over night and that didn't fix it.
So we called the plumber out with his motorized drain rooter. He went at it for a while, rooted the drain from the wall twice, and at first he made it a little better so the water could run for about 3 minutes before it started to fill up again. So he hoped he could break the clog loose by rooting it a third time, but apparently his rooter latched on to the clog and pulled it up further in to the pipe, and now the clog has pretty much completely sealed the drain shut and it fills up immediately and never really drains out at all.
That plumber said he could see that he made it worse after first making it better and he now says he'll need to get underneath the house and torch cut some main pipe under the house and then use the same type of rooting machine to try to get a hold of the clog from beneath, but the clog and the clogged drain are on the 2nd story of this house.
So it cost me $120 to make my sink worse so it is completely non-functional now and it doesn't drain at all, and the clog is apparently closer to the drain now than it was before because it starts filling the sink immediately when I run the water at all.
So I told that plumber that I'd think about paying more to have him go under the house with his new plan.
Now, after reading some stuff on the topic, I tried taking off the trap pipe again to let out the water, then I put it back together and poured a full, large bottle Draino in the drain to hopefully get to the clog which is apparently closer than ever to the sink drain now.
Then the next day, yesterday, I plugged and covered that overflow drain hole, put a plastic bag over the sink with the plunger stick coming through the plastic bag for splash safety, and I plunged it and plunged it, still with no success getting the clog to release.
Now today, as a last ditch effort, I read up some more about it and I plugged all the other drains in the house to create more pressure, put some hot water in the sink, really plugged that overflow hole, and I plunged the holy-heck out of that drain five times with a very tight plunger seal... it dredged up some dirt and I could tell it was really creating pressure on that overflow hole while I held a wet towel in place there plugging it very tight, but the clog still won't release.
So again, to reiterate, my question is, how could a plumber possibly get a hold of a clog from a distance that is further away from the clog, from underneath the house, cutting in to a main drain pipe, that he couldn't get out from just a few feet away at the sink drain level where the sink is clogged on the 2nd level of the house?
Thanks for any help and any suggestions on how I might handle this myself, since plumbers don't have camera guided nuclear missiles to take out this kind of tough clog, which is apparently what we need here.
Thanks a lot,
digi
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