Clogged drain? Suggestions?

[dockeryfan]

My kitchen sink drains straight down, joins the bar sink in the basement and goes under the floor to join the main.

Well, like a lot of kitchen drains, it's slow. Now, when I run a ton of water in the kitchen, it backs up into the bar sink. I've taken the bar sink trap off before, and snaked it 25'. Sent a bunch of draino down in the past. Nothing. Still slow.

So now, I've got standing water in the bar sink, so something is up. My plan is to snake the bar sink again, but IIRC, I had a bear of a time trying to snake it without taking the trap off. No problem when the sink is dry, but what a mess, I'll have to try to siphon it, etc. I hope I wake up and the sink has drained, but you never know.

Has anyone ever used sulfuric acid with slow drains or stopped drains? Obviously the pipes are just old and built up. I mean the snake didn't bring up a darn thing when I did it last year. Any plumbers with some tips?

[Win4us]

My kitchen sink drains straight down, joins the bar sink in the basement and goes under the floor to join the main.

Well, like a lot of kitchen drains, it's slow. Now, when I run a ton of water in the kitchen, it backs up into the bar sink. I've taken the bar sink trap off before, and snaked it 25'. Sent a bunch of draino down in the past. Nothing. Still slow.

So now, I've got standing water in the bar sink, so something is up. My plan is to snake the bar sink again, but IIRC, I had a bear of a time trying to snake it without taking the trap off. No problem when the sink is dry, but what a mess, I'll have to try to siphon it, etc. I hope I wake up and the sink has drained, but you never know.

Has anyone ever used sulfuric acid with slow drains or stopped drains? Obviously the pipes are just old and built up. I mean the snake didn't bring up a darn thing when I did it last year. Any plumbers with some tips?

It could be a couple things. If you've ran 25' of cable out through your bar sinkdrain then it's more than likely outside the house (the clog). Though all the fixtures in your house would be draining similar if that's the case. Try looking just outside your house for a cleanout, with a flashlight you should be able to pop the cap to check your flow, or lack of.

If you haven't checked yet you may have a bottle cap or something in your bar p-trap too.

If it's the same stack (bar and kitchen) you could have a plugged vent. Sometimes birds make nests in the top stack.

[dockeryfan]

Well, if the plug was outside the house, wouldn't my shower, for instance, back up into my slop sink or something? Or even all the way back to the bar sink? That doesn't happen, or at least it hasn't happened yet.

(I like the bottlecap idea. Start simple, right? I don't think it's a problem, because I tried to plunger the bar sink a bit and it didn't take. )

The plugged vent. How common is that? Do I just have one vent for the house? If there is no nest, does that mean it isn't the stack? How the heck can I tell if it's clogged?

Also, can I just pour sulfuric acid into the standing water? Will it sink down, or just cause a bunch of fumes? I've never used it before. Maybe I shouldn't use it at all. (Cast iron pipes btw.)

[Win4us]

Well, if the plug was outside the house, wouldn't my shower, for instance, back up into my slop sink or something? Or even all the way back to the bar sink? That doesn't happen, or at least it hasn't happened yet.

(I like the bottlecap idea. Start simple, right? I don't think it's a problem, because I tried to plunger the bar sink a bit and it didn't take. )

The plugged vent. How common is that? Do I just have one vent for the house? If there is no nest, does that mean it isn't the stack? How the heck can I tell if it's clogged?

Also, can I just pour sulfuric acid into the standing water? Will it sink down, or just cause a bunch of fumes? I've never used it before. Maybe I shouldn't use it at all. (Cast iron pipes btw.)

Yes if the plug was outside the house you would have more fixtures backing up.

The bottle cap or anything else in the trap would be if the bar sink was the only one backing up. More than likely not since your kitchen drains similar.

When you do plunge make sure you use a wet towel or rag to cover up the vent on the sink, otherwise you're just pushing/pulling air between the drain and vent overflow. Clogged or partially clogged vents happen sometimes and it sounds like your dillema may be that. Unless this section of the house is an addition and has a totally seperate lateral/vents from the rest of the house.

[twa]

i wouldn't suggest sulfuric acid,both for the pipes sake and yours,rather potent fumes

clogged vent ya usually get bubbles/gurgling right?

[Win4us]

I've had to snake a few vents before and it's usually a last resort. Basically if you're getting good flow from everywhere in the house other than this vertical section maybe time to send the snake down the vent. That's if you can do it safely from the roof.

I'd also stay away from using acids if you can. you'll more than likely end up taking the drain apart again and could get burned from it.

You're better off using a small bucket and placing it under your bar sink ptrap and snake from there. It also helps ensure the snake head is dropping down the drain like its supposed to unstead of going laterally, or up.

[MassSkinsFan]

I had a similar experience years ago - my kitchen sink and basement laundry sink (on the same stack) were slow and then really slow. I tried snaking and plunging but no luck. Finally, I got sewage overflow in both. Twice. That's when I called Roto Rooter. They snaked out the pipes going out to the street. Good luck.