Is there anyone who had fixed a clogged drain in your home?

Hi friends,
Tenants don't take as much care as the homeowners maintain their homes. Last day our renters moved out and I found the drain has been badly clogged. The clog caused due to the improper disposal of vegetable scraps and other food waste into drains. They didn't even inform us that the clog has formed. Now, it became my responsibility to clear the clogged drain. I tried once to clear it but couldn't unclog it. I'm considering to call a drain repair service. Is there anyone who had fixed a clogged drain in your home?

Hi Annie, and welcome to Permies!

How did you try to clear the clog?  I've had success with drain snakes for breaking up solid plugs.  

Personally, we don't call a service person out for something like this.  It's usually not very difficult.  Have you done a YouTube search on the topic.  There should be several suggestions and how to vidoes there, from using a chemical un clogger to using a snake.  We usually just use a snake.  We start with the smallest size.  We have had to rent a large motorized unit before due to some tree root growth outside, but that's an extreme case.  I would YouTube it, if I were you. :)

I've had success using a garden house on stubborn clogs. I put the hose end down the drain as far as it can, then block around the hose & drain with a heavy towel. Hubby holds the toweling down good and tight while I go out a turn on the water. Shortly after hubby screams and curses because he's missed a spot to block the water and he gets splashed, the clog is gone and the pipes flushed out nicely. Worked great.

PS-  A good old fashioned plunger often works as long as you can get a good seal over the drain. Keep in mind that plungers work on clogs on the suction stroke, not the push stroke.

Hello and welcome.

It's easy to fix a clogged drain (and even easier to prevent the clog).  No need to call a plumber.

A plunger will often get the clog moving.
If the clog is near the drain, then a zip tool does the trick.
Failing that, a snake is well worth keeping in the house.  A plumbers snake is about $40 (which is far less than the cost of getting a plumber out) and isn't hard to use.

It takes less time to clear a clog than it does to call a plumber.

But most of all, prevention!  Don't feed your sink fats, hair, or solids (like leftover food), or anything not labelled septic-safe (and many things like 'wipes' that are supposedly septic safe).  Only feed your drains: water, soap, (septic safe) toilet paper, and the bio-waste that comes out of the unmentionable places.

Whenever we've had a clogged drain that the plunger or snake didn't take care of, I found it quite easy to unscrew the pipes underneath the sink to unclog the trap which is where I would find the clog was. As was already suggested, youtube is a great source for all kinds of tutorials. Highly recommended! :-) I just recently repaired a water leak coming from the outside wall into our living room, causing a lot of damage over the years. Thanks to a few youtube tutorials I learned how to take off the cedar siding, install sheathing, properly install step flashing, and even learned how to custom-cut a piece of kick out flashing to ensure everything drains into the gutter, and voilà, saved $400 that someone gave me as an estimate. The feeling of satisfaction having done it oneself is also awesome. :-) Good luck - I'm sure you'll get it unclogged in no time, and likely learn something in the process, too, that will serve you in the future!

How to move it is going to depend on where it is and what it is. Check the U-bend of the sink first as that's the easiest and that tends to be where fat will clog first. if there's no clog there, lift up any inspection hatches you have and have a look in, if they are full of water the clog is further down the line, if they are empty it's above them. Clogs in the main line can be cleared with drain canes or other tool made for the job (basically push down the drain until whatever it is is pushed into the septic tank or sewer. clogs further up need something more flexible or a plunger.

Good luck with it last time it happened to me it was a collapsed main line and rather expensive!

Annie Collins wrote:I found it quite easy to unscrew the pipes underneath the sink to unclog the trap which is where I would find the clog was.

I was going to suggest this as well.  There's a good reason this area is removable.  If it's further down the line, you may be able to locate where by thumping on the pipe and noticing where it sounds more solid, not hollow.  Before I had my children trained as to what is allowed to go down the drain, I had to cut into the drain line and install a clean-out just above the clog.  It never needed it again, but I was glad to have improved what the plumber neglected.

Annie Collins wrote:I found it quite easy to unscrew the pipes underneath the sink to unclog the trap which is where I would find the clog was.

Clean out that pipe trap.  Then as good measure to clean out further, use a wet/dry shop-vac and suck the pipe going out of the location.  Make sure to have a good seal around the vac and the pipe.  Hand towel works good wrapped around as you hold it.  Then, as most shop-vacs do, spin it around and blow pressure.  Repeat if needed to loosen that clog so far away.  Much of the time this really works vs. running out to rent the pricey snake tool from Ace Hardware.

It might help to fill the sink with hot water and then drain it, the continuous flow of heat melts fats, dissolves them and drags them along into the septic system. It will weaken the core of the blockage ball that's stuck in the pipe, soften it and make it easier to flush it out or push it allong with the above mentioned pipe snake or plunger .

Wait til the drain is dry.

Pour baking soda down the drain. When the pipe is dry is goes down farthest.

Then pour in vinegar.

Its going to foam up.

Wait a little while. Follow with a good amount of boiling water.

Repeat if necessary.

Effectiveness depends on cause of clog.

Good luck.

Lee Gee wrote:Wait til the drain is dry.

Pour baking soda down the drain. When the pipe is dry is goes down farthest.

Then pour in vinegar.

Its going to foam up.

Wait a little while. Follow with a good amount of boiling water.

Repeat if necessary.

Effectiveness depends on cause of clog.

Good luck.

In winter conditions this will not work with crawl spaces and PVC.  Pipes can burst.  Make sure the crawl space vents are closed except one for a little air bleed in and an opposite end opened to bleed some air out to prevent mold.

Been there and done that already. :)

to clear clogged drains ive used nylon zip tie or tie strap or whatever you call it take a sharp knife to the edge creating row of burrs along the outside edges, you dont have to cut very far to make burr. the long ones that are like 7/16" wide used to seal ac/heating ducts work great in shower drains and sink drains alike. snake it into the drain and pull it out, all the hair and goo that was clogging drain will get pulled out on the burrs, sometimes it takes several trips  in the drain to get all the yuck out, works every time I've tried it

Brian Maverick wins for main or feeder line issues!  Thanks so much, you might have just saved me a plumber visit if your idea has fixed my toilet line issue!!!