Clogged Kitchen Sink... kinked pipe? Or super clog?

[threehappypenguins]

I was doing dishes the other night and cleaned the wok. It had little tiny bits of food, but not a big deal. We've lived here for the last 2.5 years, and never had an issue. The only issue we have is little bits of food will get caught in those stupid plastic "catcher" things that is just under the sink drain/basket thing. So I just take a knife and "poke" the caught tiny bits of food through and all is well. Again, we did this for the last 2.5 years.

This time, it didn't work. I poked and poked and poked and the sink wouldn't drain. My husband unscrewed the drain on the bottom of the p trap and let all the water out. He took the whole large piece that connects the two sinks to the pipe that goes in the wall (the p trap connected to this). That whole piece is completely clear (ran water through it with the bathtub. So we know that the clog is farther down the pipe.

So he tried our toilet auger (the only thing we have), and he only got it several feet in. He stopped, and assumed the clog was really bad and decided we need a plumber. This was Saturday and we weren't going to call on the weekend. So we're doing dishes in the bathtub.

It's Monday and I don't want to call a plumber. I went to Home Depot and bought a 3/8" auger (the hand spin kind). I fed it in, and I must have gotten 3 different "kinks" because I had to spin and spin and spin to try and get it to move beyond. Now I hit a 4th and I can't get past.

The bathtub, toilet, and bathroom sink are AFTER the kitchen sink; then all of them lead to the washer and dryer, then out to the septic. Everything drains fine except the kitchen sink.

Any ideas? Should I just keep at it? Or is this something that requires a power auger? Or a camera? Or a plumber? I *really* don't want to pay for a plumber!!! We're renters, and we're avoiding telling our landlady (who lives next door). She is bonkers. She is constantly accusing us of breaking things. Like the 35 year old well pump. She said I broke it because I was doing dishes and laundry at the same time (even though we warned her a year before that the pump bearings were shot and the squealing meant it would seize up soon). We're just trying to find a house to buy (or rent). We need to get out of psycho lady's house.

 

[Matt30]

You need a plumber with the proper gear and experience. Your pipe is not kinked, it's plugged. And stop poking food down the drain. As you can see, it doesn't just go away.

 

[threehappypenguins]

It's very, very small particles. We avoid letting food go down the drain (like normal people), but sometimes you don't get everything. So these stupid plastic "catchers" catch the food, but they're useless because you can't do anything except force the food through.

Apparently there has been problems with the kitchen sink in the past when our landlady's sister lived here. Our landlady blamed her sister for pouring hot grease down or whatever, but I'm not so sure that's what clogged it multiple times in the past. I think it's poor plumbing. She even paid for a plumber to "fix" everything. We never pour grease down or anything.

Like I said, it's not that we're dumping food down there, but the little crumbs that come off the dishes get stuck in the plastic thing under the basket. It's ridiculous.

 

[threehappypenguins]

As for a plumber, that's why I'm posting on here. To get some thoughts. I went online on how to remove a toilet and I did just fine with that. My daughter had flushed a plastic carrot toy down the toilet (I didn't know that at the time), and so I looked up how to remove the toilet, and bought the wax ring, etc.

My husband will be home soon, so maybe this is a two person job. Maybe I'll get him to wiggle the auger around and I'll listen to the pipes in the basement to see where it's getting stuck at. If it's getting stuck at one of the "straight" parts, then I know it's getting stuck at the clog. My husband is pretty handy, so we could always cut the pipe and then put it back together again with a coupler.

Plumbers are great, but we are one income and need to try all we can to avoid hiring one.

 

[Matt30]

Hand snakes can be a bit tricky to manoeuvre thru fittings and plugs, and takes some practice,Keep working at it. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

[voletl]

Kitchen sink problems are difficult to solve on your own even if you are pushing tiny food particles through, if you been doing that for the last two and a half years to build up could be pretty substantial. I wish you the best of luck but sometimes calling a professional plumber is a better option.

 

[threehappypenguins]

We got it unclogged. There are FOUR 90 degree angles I had to get through at the very beginning (within the first few 5-10 feet). I got through 3 on my own, but finally when my husband came home, we could work together to get through the fourth 90 degree bend. He kept twisting the auger (it was one of the spinner kind with the "crank" thing that you slide up to where you need it and secure it with a screw), and I kept shoving it in until it would go a little more. We put the whole 25' in and I ran down to the basement and could confirm that it got all the way to the "sewer line" (big pipe).

Then we pulled out the auger and it had some crud all stuck inside the end. We filled up the sink, and it temporarily "clogged" again, but then it went "whoosh" down and cleared away. No more issues!

The other problem with the plumbing is it doesn't do any sloping down. There's a big long, flat, straight pipe that doesn't slope toward the big pipe. So no gradient downwards.

There are all sorts of things wrong with this house. Just a bunch of people in the community threw it together and did so crappily. Even the deck looks like it's going to fall off. It's just nailed into the siding of the house. I don't let my kids on it. That's one of many things wrong with this place.

I wouldn't mind it so much if we didn't have psycho lady next door.

I can't wait to get out of here!!!

 

[Matt30]

From now on when you're done with dishes, run copious amounts of hot water behind it. I can guarantee you got the clog, but there's still build up in the pipes. Food particles and grease will mix together and stick to the side walls of the pipe like poop to a blanket. Who knows what previous tenants habits were like.

Glad you got it running