sink drains slow

[robertbarnes]

Hello to all,

first off let me tell you my problem. the problem is that my bathroom sink will not drain and at best it drains slow over many hours.

i live in an older home and have been here for about 5 years. I have not had any problems thus far with the drain system until now.

when you walk into the bathroom you have the sink on the right, then next to that is a toilet and the tub is next to that. the tub and toilet drain with no problems it is just the sink that wont drain unless it sits over night and then when you wake up it is then drained but if you run the ater it fills back up again.

I have taken the p trap off and snaked the pipe with a 25 foot snake and all seems to be clear. i looked at the pipes under the house and i can see that all 3 pipes from the sink, toilet, and tub all dump right into the main drain. so i know the snake had to been in the main drian for at let 20 foot. I was thinking maybe it is a venting problem but if it was a venting problem shouldn't everything have a hard time draining in that bathroom? I am lost and need help!

So if anyone could help me with this i would be so thankful.

thanks!

 

[johnjh2o]

Try removing the pop up it's probably loaded with hair. You may have to remove the pop up rod under the sink to accomplish this.

John

 

[robertbarnes]

Try removing the pop up it's probably loaded with hair. You may have to remove the pop up rod under the sink to accomplish this.

John

yeah i did that before i snaked it...i thought the same thing. i hope you have something else i can try...cause this is driving me crazy...

 

[johnjh2o]

The only other thing that can be going on is the snake you used is to small to do the job. Many times a small cable will jut poke holes in the stoppage and not clear it. You should be using a cable with as large a head as possible.

John

 

[robertbarnes]

The only other thing that can be going on is the snake you used is to small to do the job. Many times a small cable will jut poke holes in the stoppage and not clear it. You should be using a cable with as large a head as possible.

John

ok, so maybe i should go buy another snake with a large head on it and try that right? also could it be a vent problem? maybe i need to add a vent just for the sink like maybe using one of those inline vent things.

 

[robertbarnes]

well i just got back from the home depot and bought a snake with a larger head on it and snaked the sink but still not luck. any more ideas? im starting to think it may be a vent issue but i am not well versed in plumbing. some one please help me out this is driving me crazy! it seemed like such a easy fix in that all i would have to do is snake the drain but this has turned out to be a bad little booger...

 

[Draindit]

I got a couple of diagnostic questions for ya.

First, how long does it take for the sink to fill back up if you let it sit unused for a while? can you hear it backing up to the basin after several seconds or does it just fill immediately?
Now when you pull the trap with the sink full(bucket underneath to catch the water) do you just recieve water from the basin or does water continue to pour from the waste arm(pipe from the wall)?
Trying to determine how far away your clog is/ if there is one.
Have you checked to make sure the over flow for the sink is not plugged up? pour some water into the hole near the rim of the basin. If it doesnt drain out quickly through the pop up assembly or holds at the overflow inlet then that may be your problem. Ive seen that before although it would be extreme for it to take all night to drain.

Are you sure your snake is going down the drain in the wall and not up it?

 

[robertbarnes]

I got a couple of diagnostic questions for ya.

First, how long does it take for the sink to fill back up if you let it sit unused for a while? can you hear it backing up to the basin after several seconds or does it just fill immediately?
Now when you pull the trap with the sink full(bucket underneath to catch the water) do you just recieve water from the basin or does water continue to pour from the waste arm(pipe from the wall)?
Trying to determine how far away your clog is/ if there is one.
Have you checked to make sure the over flow for the sink is not plugged up? pour some water into the hole near the rim of the basin. If it doesnt drain out quickly through the pop up assembly or holds at the overflow inlet then that may be your problem. Ive seen that before although it would be extreme for it to take all night to drain.

Are you sure your snake is going down the drain in the wall and not up it?

thanks for replying

after i let it sit all night when i go to run water it takes maybe 10 seconds or maybe a little longer for it to fill up.

yes i can hear it when it starts to back up. at first it drians like it should and then i can hear it start to back up.

when i open the p trap i get water from the sink and just a little from the waste side but not much.

there is not an over flow in my sink. it is a solid marble sink with no over flow.

i am pretty sure that the snake is going down the pipe because when i look into the pipe i can see the first bend and it looks like it is going down and not up. so i am pretty sure there is not a way for it to go up. but i have not opened the wall to see how everything is piped. i know i only have the one vent coming out of the roof over ther. then i have others for other parts of the house.

i hope these answers can help you help me...

 

[Draindit]

another, question. is the cable coming out dirty at all, you know, covered in crude or oily black stuff.




































Another question.

Is the cable coming back dirty at all? Covered in crud or black oily stuff? Can you run water while cabling? Sometimes this can be done by putting a hole in the top of the trap arm(if its plastic), running the cable through it then in to the drain, reassembling the p trap and installing. This way you can run some hot water while you are cabling and wash away any build up that breaks loose. It will also help to move the scum build up of old tooth paste, soap and hair that will build up in lav sink piping. Just keep a bucket under it to catch any water that may back up or splash out. Also, if it is a vent problem then the hole in the pipe might give the air the drain needs and identify that issue?
One more, have you tried running up the pipe to make sure the path to the vent stack is clear? You probably would have/want to go far. But it may be worth a shot if none of this other stuff is working.

 

[Draindit]

whoa, sorry bout that. my kid hit the key board and did a number on the post.

 

[robertbarnes]

Another question.

Is the cable coming back dirty at all? Covered in crud or black oily stuff? Can you run water while cabling? Sometimes this can be done by putting a hole in the top of the trap arm(if its plastic), running the cable through it then in to the drain, reassembling the p trap and installing. This way you can run some hot water while you are cabling and wash away any build up that breaks loose. It will also help to move the scum build up of old tooth paste, soap and hair that will build up in lav sink piping. Just keep a bucket under it to catch any water that may back up or splash out. Also, if it is a vent problem then the hole in the pipe might give the air the drain needs and identify that issue?
One more, have you tried running up the pipe to make sure the path to the vent stack is clear? You probably would have/want to go far. But it may be worth a shot if none of this other stuff is working.

Yes it is coming back out all black ans stinky. the pipe does not go up it just goes down. and no there really aint no way to run the water at the same time of snaking that i can see...with out making a really big mess...lol

 

[Draindit]

I would say that you probably have a sludge blockage through out most of the pipe before it hits your drain stack. If that is the case than the cable is not gonna probably do you any good without running water behind it to keep the sludge moving out of the pipe through the hole your cable is making while it is still in there. A professional would be able to make this happen or they would jet the line. As a last resort you could try using a drain bladder to push the sludge from the line. I really dont recommend that without seeing you pipe layout and how the venting drains are interconnected, so doing so would be at your own risk of making a really big mess.
Stupid question, but with no overflow at the sink and the pipe seeming to breath off the drain stack, have you tried plunging the hell out of it?

 

[robertbarnes]

I would say that you probably have a sludge blockage through out most of the pipe before it hits your drain stack. If that is the case than the cable is not gonna probably do you any good without running water behind it to keep the sludge moving out of the pipe through the hole your cable is making while it is still in there. A professional would be able to make this happen or they would jet the line. As a last resort you could try using a drain bladder to push the sludge from the line. I really dont recommend that without seeing you pipe layout and how the venting drains are interconnected, so doing so would be at your own risk of making a really big mess.
Stupid question, but with no overflow at the sink and the pipe seeming to breath off the drain stack, have you tried plunging the hell out of it?

no i have not plunged it...i guess i could try that. and also here is some pics of my set up...

 

[DFBonnett]

OP,
Can you open that cleanout on the sink line? That's where I had an almost identical problem.

 

[Draindit]

yeah pulling that cleanout would be ideal cause the horizontal part of the pipe is where all the build up most likely is, based on how long you have stated that it takes for it to back up when you run water. The closer you can get to the problem the easier it will be and the better you'll be able to clean it. From the looks of it, that is a brass cleanout cap that might be difficult(or near impossible) to spin out. You can take a chisel and hammer and knock the cap off. Brass is soft. you can buy a replacement expansion plug for a couple bucks at the hardware store.

 

[robertbarnes]

thanks to everyone but i have had to run out of town for a little while so oncei get back home i will pull that clean out and see what i can see...thanks...

 

[robertbarnes]

ok, i think i am going crazy. I just back into town on thursday and when i woke up friday i flushed to toilet in my bedroom, on the other side of the house than where i have been having a problem with the sink, and it just filled up and then went down real slow. So i told my wife to use the other toilet because this one was not working so she did and that one did the same thing? So i said to her well i guess this weekend i will snake the house and see what the problem was. Well she forgot the sink was having problems and she let the water run for over 30 minutes and it drianed fine with not backing up???? so we went to wor and came home i tested all the sinks and toilets on friday about 5 pm and everything worked fine? I still went under the house this weekend and took off the clean out caps and snaked the pipes and there was not hard spots that i found. So I wonder what could have been the problem the whole time? any ideas? also checked the 2 different vents on the roof and ran a snake down them and everything was clear...please let me know what you think it could of been....i think i am going crazy!!!!