Kitchen sink and family room sink slow to drain

[colinmergens]

I’ve lived in my house for two months, so its problems are new to me.
Recently my kitchen sink is very slow to drain, and the family room ‘bar’ sink is as well. If water is running for a minute or two, both sinks are very slow to drain. Food scraps have backed up into the bar sink. It smells.
There is a clean out under the bar sink.
I just snaked 25’ through the kitchen sink but the slow drain problem is still there. There are no other plumbing fixtures between the kitchen and bar sink.
And the rest of the house’s plumbing fixtures are further away from the bar sink. Kitchen sink is on one end of the house, then bar sink, then bathrooms and laundry further away.
There is no problem thus far with toilets/showers/bathroom sinks/laundry draining. That is working fine.
Should I snake the bar sink, or clean out? Is something else the problem? If I uncap the clean out, will I likely get a flood of water? Any other info needed?

 

[Jeff Handy]

Draw a diagram.
Then add rough lengths and describe what is what.

Are you over a basement, crawl, slab?

Impossible to picture your existing drains without full info.

Rent a longer snake, or cut a drain line from below if you have access and snake from there.

The bar cleanout might gush when opened.
Wait overnight with no water use, open slowly and be prepared to hold the plug against some pressure and hopefully get it back in if gushing.

 

[colinmergens]

Thank you for the response. I’ll work on a diagram, but answer your question for now.
It is over a slab foundation. I have no access from underneath.

 

[Jeff Handy]

If you have a food disposer, don’t use it as a magical garbage can.
Most food scraps should be scraped off plates and into the trash.
If you don’t have a disposer, keep the sink strainer basket loosely in the drain to catch crud, and just dump it out as needed.
Of course, you might be doing no harm, and all this could be from the former occupants crapping up the drain lines.

 

[Geofd]

Is it a single story house ?????
I have found the common vent on the roof and cleared it with a snake that way

 

[colinmergens]

I make sure not to send too much food down the disposal, but about 3 weeks ago I sent shrimp shells down, little by little, but probably shouldn't have done that.
I may have noticed the slow drain since then...

Yes it is a single story house, if the vent on the roof is clogged (we have a lot of leaves dropping on the roof) could that create a drain/pressure problem?

I've attached a diagram (from the flooring company) with plumbing fixtures/notes in red. If this is not what you wanted, I can try to draw something.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Excerpt from a plumbing website:

“The following items should not be placed in the garbage disposal: shrimp shells, crab shells, shellfish, un-popped popcorn kernels, hard bones, banana peels, celery, potato peelings, corn cobs, artichokes, coffee grounds, fruit pits, onion skins, eggshells, rice, pasta, grease, or garbage (such as rubber bands, glass, screws, etc.).”

 

[Jeff Handy]

Your drain line probably needs snaking out by a pro, with a longer snake and better technique.
A ranch house tends to have loooong drain lines.
Remove your disposer, or learn how to make it stay happy.

 

[colinmergens]

Ok, I tried the 25’ snake in the bar sink’s drain, since I’ve got it, and we’ll see how it goes with tonight’s dishes/dishwasher run.
Question: is snaking the clean out below the bar sink useful? I got all 25’ in the bar sink drain, would snaking the clean out do anything different? Would it guarantee the snake is going in the right direction (which I assume is toward the bathrooms).

 

[Geofd]

No

I make sure not to send too much food down the disposal, but about 3 weeks ago I sent shrimp shells down, little by little, but probably shouldn't have done that.
I may have noticed the slow drain since then...

Yes it is a single story house, if the vent on the roof is clogged (we have a lot of leaves dropping on the roof) could that create a drain/pressure problem?

I've attached a diagram (from the flooring company) with plumbing fixtures/notes in red. If this is not what you wanted, I can try to draw something.

The vent isn't clogged this is the way you
Get the snake to go directly down the drain

 

[Jeff Handy]

Still waiting for a diagram.

Snaking is an art, and takes feel and practice and skill.

The snake can go up a vent, get stuck at fittings or tees, and can go through a clog which can plug right back up when it is pulled back out.

 

[colinmergens]

I attached a diagram of the house layout with locations. Posted at 4:45. If that is not the diagram you were wanting, let me know what you want to see.

 

[Jeff Handy]

I missed that post while jumping around on here, my bad.
I will check it out later, pbly tmrw.

 

[SHEPLMBR]

I attached a diagram of the house layout with locations. Posted at 4:45. If that is not the diagram you were wanting, let me know what you want to see.

Are you on city sewer or septic?

 

[colinmergens]

Are you on city sewer or septic?

City sewer

 

[Jeff Handy]

Snaking through the bar sink cleanout would get you a foot or more of extra length.
There is no guarantee a snake is going the right way.
You could take the trap off a sink down the line, like the hall bath, and you might hear the snake getting closer if it is going the right way.
Your diagram shows the kitchen sink 28 feet from the bar sink as the crow flies, so it is at least several feet longer than that in reality.
So your 25 foot snake did not reach all the way to the bar sink drain line.
Some rental snakes are 35 feet, they are motorized but still not too huge to lug around, and have a 5/16 cable which is a good size for your job.
Other rental machines are 50 feet long snake, and probably a thicker cable but still should be ok for that job.
I would start with a 35 foot, and snake both lines again, at least snake the kitchen sink until all or mostly all the 35 feet goes in.
It might try to hang up at the very end where it joins the other drains.
If that happens, be careful of it twisting on itself, keep your eye on the cable.
Or better yet, hire it out.
Maybe your snaking at the bar sink fixed the problem, fingers crossed!

 

[colinmergens]

Are you on city sewer or septic?

City sewer