I had a clogged kitchen sink drain in my condo unit on the fifth floor. I believe it was from some potting soil I washed down the drain as I had planted some potted plants in the sink a couple months back. Maybe a liter of soil, no more than two. I washed it down with plenty of water. On June 20th I noticed my kitchen sink wouldn't drain. All other drains were fine, bathtub, 2 toilets, two bathroom sinks, and the laundry drained fine. I plunged the kitchen sink and put chemicals down it. No help.
I went and bought a 12 foot drain auger, just a cheapy hand crank. I got through some black stuff 3 feet in. Assumed it was the potting soil. Tried the drain, wouldn't drain water. So I tried again and went all the way with the auger. Pulled it out, no signs of any debris on the auger end. But drain wouldn't drain water. I contacted the condo management company. They refereed me to an auger drain company they had used before. He came 3 days later as I didn't want to pay after hours rate and wasn't in a crisis. He spent three hours trying to clean it with his augers. He tried a 25 foot one and a fifty foot one. He believed the auger was hitting the T in the drain where down was the main sewer drop for my unit and the ones below me. He believed it was hitting the clog and going up instead of digging down into the clog.
He suggested getting someone more professional. I contacted a couple well named ones and they wanted hundreds of dollars. I had recently been layed off from my job and was working minimum wage now so was wanting to save money. So I thought I would delay a few days until I could be home and could get someone over on normal work hours.
Then 2 days ago I get an email from the condo management that on June 17th, the vacant unit below me had drain issues and had water leak into the unit from these drain issues. They said it was clogged. I replied, yes my drain was still plugged. They wanted me to take off time from work to deal with it, they would arrange for a different drain cleaning company to come. I said I couldn't take time off the next day. They said they would have them go into the unit below me, the one below me and clean the drain. The next day I get an email, asking me to check my drain. Mine was still plugged, plugged solid as no water would drain. All the other times it was a slow drain, it would take a few hours but it would drain. Now it never moved overnight.
They arranged to have the drain cleaning company come into my unit yesterday and clean it while I was at work. I get home and they slipped a letter under my door saying I was the cause of the water leakage in the unit below me. They had found sand in the drains and I was liable for cleanup and damages.
Of course I was furious, and I don't have insurance, which is my gamble, and definitely understand I lost that. I don't understand how I could have caused water to come up there drains. The place was vacant, so why is water running? And why did they have a flood on the 17th when I didn't notice until 3 or four days later mine was clogged. And why were all my other drains fine and draining water and their's were not?
I went and bought a 12 foot drain auger, just a cheapy hand crank. I got through some black stuff 3 feet in. Assumed it was the potting soil. Tried the drain, wouldn't drain water. So I tried again and went all the way with the auger. Pulled it out, no signs of any debris on the auger end. But drain wouldn't drain water. I contacted the condo management company. They refereed me to an auger drain company they had used before. He came 3 days later as I didn't want to pay after hours rate and wasn't in a crisis. He spent three hours trying to clean it with his augers. He tried a 25 foot one and a fifty foot one. He believed the auger was hitting the T in the drain where down was the main sewer drop for my unit and the ones below me. He believed it was hitting the clog and going up instead of digging down into the clog.
He suggested getting someone more professional. I contacted a couple well named ones and they wanted hundreds of dollars. I had recently been layed off from my job and was working minimum wage now so was wanting to save money. So I thought I would delay a few days until I could be home and could get someone over on normal work hours.
Then 2 days ago I get an email from the condo management that on June 17th, the vacant unit below me had drain issues and had water leak into the unit from these drain issues. They said it was clogged. I replied, yes my drain was still plugged. They wanted me to take off time from work to deal with it, they would arrange for a different drain cleaning company to come. I said I couldn't take time off the next day. They said they would have them go into the unit below me, the one below me and clean the drain. The next day I get an email, asking me to check my drain. Mine was still plugged, plugged solid as no water would drain. All the other times it was a slow drain, it would take a few hours but it would drain. Now it never moved overnight.
They arranged to have the drain cleaning company come into my unit yesterday and clean it while I was at work. I get home and they slipped a letter under my door saying I was the cause of the water leakage in the unit below me. They had found sand in the drains and I was liable for cleanup and damages.
Of course I was furious, and I don't have insurance, which is my gamble, and definitely understand I lost that. I don't understand how I could have caused water to come up there drains. The place was vacant, so why is water running? And why did they have a flood on the 17th when I didn't notice until 3 or four days later mine was clogged. And why were all my other drains fine and draining water and their's were not?
