I have a sink drain for a kitchen sink that is in a semi-island bar that faces my living room, and is sort of in the center of the foundation. Recently it is backing up if I run the sink or dishwasher too long. It does slowly drain out. It isn't the trap.

I have removed the access plug in the cabinet underneath and run a 25' pipe snake in there a few times and aside from being a giant pain in the ass from at least 2 hard 90's involved and that it is only a 3" pipe, lately I haven't been able to shove or push or break up whatever is backed up inside there. Once a couple of years ago I was able to push or shove some sort of blockage into the main sewer line with the snake, but now it hits some sort of whitish clay like substance under there and gets jammed up about 15 feet in.

I actually tried to use a cable tracer attached to the snake to map out its path under the foundation but I lose it after about 10 feet due to interference.

Is there some trick to clearing a blockage? Should I rent a power drain snake? Just hire a plumber to clear it?

Hot water and I don't mean just run hot water down the sink.

Let water drain down. Get a large pot and heat the water till it almost boils. Pour down drain. It won't hurt your pipes. Even PVC.

If you have a wet/dry shop vac, it can be helpful either sucking or blowing the blockage out as well.

What you have is "biofilm" mostly dead bacteria that accumulates over time.

I've had some pretty good success with a shop vac in the past if the normal methods aren't getting the job done.

In reply to Average Joe Blowing it out or on vaccuum?

In reply to MouthBQ98

MouthBQ98 said:

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Blowing it out or on vaccuum?

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Vacuum in all but one incident.

There was one time my daughter decided to dump a huge plate of pasta into the garbage disposal. Disposal handled it fine, but it swelled up in the pipes and I had to alternate blow and vacuum twice before vacuum pulled it all out.

In reply to MouthBQ98 My mother's house had a blockage that a snake wouldn't penetrate.

It turned out to be a root in the pipe and some copper sulfate crystals took care of it for me.

So, if you think there's a chance it could be a root, maybe try it.

Roebic K-77 Root Killer

In reply to KRamp90

KRamp90 said:

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I suspect 25' is not far enough. I luckily have a 50' powered snake from my deceased father(he was the King of garage and estate sales). Make sure you have a wobble head and go to town. It is pretty labor intensive, but usually takes less than an hour with breaks. Also, once a month or so, fill up your sink with hot water, and let it go to flush the line. Additionally, garbage disposals are not an excuse to put fat, or leafy greens down the pipe. Not a plumber, but I have a wife and four kids...

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When we had a block it was rice - starchy sushi rice in particular. Doesn't take a lot - that stuff is like glue for pipes. Putting just a few pieces down the drain on a regular basis will do those pipes in. Had to get somebody to run one of those large power augers down the whole thing to clear it out.

Agree with the boil water/very hot water once a month. Works great for the women's sink. all the chemicals in their beauty products.

In kitchen, I fill both sides of my kitchen sink with hot water from tap. Then boil three big pots of water. Start draining both sides of sink then follow with the boiled water (volume and Heat). This also works better in summer vs freezing weather outside.

Also outside at the first cleanout, once a month I put the water hose in the clean-out full throttle to just run volume through the kitchen drain line.

Our houses are designed to work with a higher volume of water. With all the water efficient appliances, and faucets, we do not get enough water through the drainpipes (full bathtubs, full washers, Heavy water showers, etc.). Thus, instead of using water appropriately in your appliances and getting poop down into the sewer, sometimes you have to flush with fresh water.

We had dishwasher powder soap build up like limestone in an older frame house. Was a second hand dishwasher and hot water wasn't that hot.
Soap must have not completely dissolved in the washer and rocked up in the sewer line.

Yes, this is also the same line my dishwasher drains into. Between it and the kitchen sink, lots of crud gets down there. I might have to pay a plumber to run a powered one down there ultimately, but I might try the vaccuum trick first.

I still can't believe they didn't build it with sweep 90's or 45 Degree pipes for the first bend from the maintenance cap. Those hard 90's make any plumbing work a giant pain, and needlessly so.

Maybe try one of these?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/JONES-STEPHENS-1-1-2-in-3-in-Plumbjet-Drain-Cleaning-Bladder-D18401/313583838

In reply to Absolute

Absolute said:

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Maybe try one of these?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/JONES-STEPHENS-1-1-2-in-3-in-Plumbjet-Drain-Cleaning-Bladder-D18401/313583838

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I did have success with one of those in a similar problem.

I bought this brand
Drain King 186 Unclogs Bathroom Sinks, Showers, and Swimming Pool Drains, 1.5 to 3 Inch - Chemical Drain Openers - Amazon.com

Had a line that combined the sink and washer that was backing up before the next bathroom about once every month or two and regular snakes weren't completely fixing it. I put the drain king down the line from sink clean out and could hear it blast out the clog. It ended up blowing white gunk out the bath tub even, Fortunately I had closed the curtain so I just had to clean out the tub. Nothing else down stream had an issue.