Toilets, Sinks, Showers, Tubs and Disposals - Slow Clogged Kitchen Drain

My kitchen sink has a clog down the line abit because the water run abit before backing up and draining at a crawl. I used Drano with no sucess. Would the treatments such a Drain Care work better or something else??

Use as few chemicals as possible in your drain system. Have you cleaned the vent pipe lately? After winter vent pipes seem to get clogged with sticks, nuts, and leaves left there by your friendly squirrel population. In turn crud gathers on this blockage keeping your drains from operating properly. An analogy would be placing a soda straw in a Coke and placing your thumb over the end and withdrawing the straw. The liquid will remain in the straw until you move your thumb and allow air from above so the liquid will fall naturally. Your vent pipe having a block is similar. The best way to unclog it is to make a road trip to the roof and chug the pipe with a garden hose (water off) until it passes. BUT, you must be careful on roofs, so if you have any reservations about doing this, don't, and call a pro to have it done. It ain't the fall, but the sudden stop that messes up your whole day.

I will try that. The vent pipe for the kitchen sink in to far up the roof and is easily accessible. After putting the hose down the pipe how will I know how far to go? If it is blocked how does this get cleaned out?

Thanks for your help

Steve

A note of caution... Yesterday I tried to help my neighbor clear her clogged drain. Turns out the last remodeler of her kitchen never connected the vent pipe to the vent through the roof.... As I tried plunging the clog, which ended up being in the basement, the water went up the vent pipe, which was open behind the walls... sending water everwhere inside that wall...

Thanks for the warning

Do you have a garbage disposal? Do you have your water heater temperature fairly low for safety?

Try pouring several gallons of very hot water, at least 160 degrees F. down the drain. It is possible that you have a grease clog.

And how far is far? Figure from the roof to the sink is probably "x" feet, so you will feel the occlusion much before that and it will "give" with you.

You can use enzyme digester drain cleaners and let them set overnight to digest organic clogs. More and more plumbers are switching to enzyme cleaners to get away from harsh drain cleaners that can often compound problems.

Most problems as you describe have presented themselves before on this website and end up be attributed to a clogged vent pipe. Sometimes running water hose down vent pipe can dislodge a clog. But, if grease has backed up the vent pipe, the clog may be more determined and a snake required to dislodge it. While clogged vent pipes may be DIY, sometimes it is time to call a plumber.

I once had such a situation. The plumber ran the snake all the way down the vent pipe and out to the street. No more clog! The previous owner was in to frying, which was attested to by the grease splatters on the walls and the grease smothered stove which I had to replace. She must have dumped grease down the drain. :eek:

A few weeks before that I came home to find the house filled with methane. I ran water down all the drains and poured a bucket of water down the basement floor drains to assure that there were no dry traps. It was only a short time later that I determined I had the clogged vent pipe that was robbing the drains of water and allowing methane gas into the house.