If you want to purchase a similar snake click on the attached amazon link. SNAKE - amzn.to/3llwj0e (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases while not increasing your purchase price).
This video helped me alot!! Thank you! It actually took me a while to figure out how to use the auger properly. I was doing it wrong at first. My clog was into the wall and down into the drain in the slab. I didn't understand at first that the hand screw on the auger needs to be lose as you are pulling the cable out of the auger and pushing it into the pipe and then when it won't go any further due to an obstruction you tighten the screw against the cable before using the drill, and the drill trigger only needs to be slightly pulled where the cable is turning slowly as you keep the cable from coming out. At first when pushing the cable in some of it folded over and was just wrapping around itself. I learned I had to use a flashlight and make sure as I pushed it in that it was going down the pipe and not folding. Once getting past a clog you loosen the screw again to begin pushing the cable further into the pipe, each time you hit an obstruction you must tighten the screw against the cable again before using the drill and then when it seems the slack is coming out of the cable and it is going further into the pipe, loosen the screw again to pull out more cable to push into the pipe. So you actually loosen and tighten that screw quite a bit. Always clean the cable as you are pushing it back into the auger and clean out the hair and stuff out of the spring on the end before using it again or putting it up. Thanks again for posting this video! I'm sure it saved me at least a couple hundred dollars!!
I upgraded my drains from 1.5" to 2" pipe. The original drain pipes were sagging and gunk got built up in the low points. Now my drains suck the water down in a beautiful vortex of goodness.
It’s also a good practice to pour a large pan of hot water (heated on the stove) down the drain’s once a month or two to help melt out any grease or soap buildup.
You bet thanks.. We cook pasta at least once a week so the drain get a lot of hot water. My main issue is the drum traps. I really need to replace them soon.
Thank you for this video. I just bought a house and my sink is doing the exact same thing and including the bathroom sink on the opposite wall and I am so frustrated. I bought the same auger at Harbor freight and was using it wrong 😂 So now I’m going to give it another go because I don’t want to call a plumber.
A long post but maybe it will help someone. I, too, had a slow draining kitchen sink where the clog was somewhere in the 2 inch PVC drain line, well beyond the trap. I tried 2 doses (1/2 bottle each) of a liquid drain cleaner which apparently softened up the debris it could reach but then caused a complete blockage of the line. That can be dangerous because now there is caustic standing water in the pipe. I tried a snake 17 feet into the pipe but still could not reach the clog. Before I called a plumber I went online to calculate how much standing water was in about 25 ft of pipe that I could see before it entered the concrete foundation floor. With approx 4 gallons in the line, I grabbed a 5 gallon pail and an additional bucket and some towels and drilled a 1/8 hole into the PVC about 2 feet above the floor. A small stream of water shot out for 10 secs, then stopped. What? Drilled a 1/4 inch hole and that gave a somewhat OK stream, 80% into the bucket and 20% running on the outside of the pipe onto the floor. Once that stopped as much as it was going to, I took a handsaw and cut the pipe right at the hole I drilled. Whoa -- I cut right through a whopping slug of a gelatinous clog. The top portion of pipe was still dripping and as I went to move it over the bucket about 2 feet of clog dropped out. Well, at that point I removed the remainder of the pipe above the fitting at the floor and figured there probably are roots in the sewer line. But when I started poking a hole in the clog with a large screwdriver, voila! The couple inches of remaining sludge sluiced down into the sewer line. The culprit of the clog? The inside of the 2 inch PVC that went into the fitting at the floor had not be de-burred -- it was clearly jagged from when it had been cut with a saw and glued into the fitting 15 years ago. That restriction trapped debris from the kitchen water and built up over the years to slowing the flow and creating a clog that grew upward from the basement floor. Thankfully, this line only drained the kitchen and not toilets. When reassembling, I used a rounded file to debur the inside of that connection and then I spliced in a wye with a cleanout plug for easier access in the future, if ever needed.
@@BackyardMaine Yes sir! My two takeaways: ALWAYS de-bur / ream your pipe cuts AND be careful with drain cleaners. When in doubt, call in a professional.
Replace the elbow coming out of the trap with a TEE with a threaded cap on top for maintence access. Snakes are OK, but a pulsing line cleaner will do a much better job.
Very informative... Thanks for posting. I do have an old snake and I am having the same issue (U whaped pea trap) Dirty water actually also came out the washing machine drain which is in the same wall farther down. I did snake like 6 or 7 ft but no luck yet. Do you think I went far enough? Any other recommendations? Thanks in advance!!
If the problem still exists I would go further. I went quite a ways and kept pulling it back and forth while running the drill on the way out. I did that a few times to clear it out.
I boil a large pot of soapy water and pour that down the drain twice to make sure to get the grease to move on. You could add a tee after that trap to access that pipe with a snake.
I've never come across those drum traps. Hmmm. When I put this type of plumbing together I leave myself access through an extra T or Y fitting. Too bad the 90 after the drum isn't a T with an access. Cool video. tHanks for posting it.
Yes a T-Fitting with a clean out would have been ideal. If I couldn’t get through the drum trap plan B was to cut it out and add one. Thanks for watching!
I have the same problem and do a similar process about every six months my question is why does this happen and what can I do to correct this inconvenience?
For me the primary problem is the drum traps which should never be used especially in a kitchen sink. The second issue is the two sinks share one trap. I’m going to re- plumb everything under the sink in the near future.
So glad I came across this video. So we've been renting a house in TX on a year lease and haven't had any issues with the kitchen sink until the past two to three weeks now. This is the 4th time we've had to clear out the pea trap and every time we do so, it runs fine again. Until it doesn't. Is the constant pea trap clogging...is thst the pea trap issue, is it a slow draining sink issue or something else? Glad we only have 2 months left at this rental property...it just strikes me as odd that the landlord did not put a garbage disposal in the rental to avoid such back ups.
I do want to rebuild it. I don’t like drum traps and I have one for the dishwasher and one for the sinks. I’m an electrician not a plumber but I can rebuild it myself. Any advice is appreciated
my dad had those kinds of traps in copper pipes he was a plumber they got rid of them a long time ago they always tend to gather dirt never even knew they made plastic versions I think they are outlawed now. they want traps that are self cleaning smooth flow, so dirt does not gather in them. the only problem is they don't like S traps either, so they don't get sucked dry by syphon effect does your sink have a vent? I found the secret to keeping my kitchen sink from getting backed up was not putting any grease down the sink we pour grease and oil into a steel can with some paper towels and throw it out wipe out pans with paper towels while warm. if you have greasy water in sink wash it down with cold water then it won't stick to the pipes as it goes along warm and cools
It’s the price of video content creation: making your 5hi7 pretty enough for public consumption. (It also makes him look like the kind of plumber that cleans up his messes.)
I don't have this exact problem, but suds do come up the other side which only cause us to re-rinse the clean dishes It's a minor irritation, but a slow drain is a more serious thing
Yes it is since they usually share the same drain pipe and the one with the strait shot down will drain faster the the one that comes in from the side.
Bummer. I guess it's time to call in a plumber. Sounds like either a venting issue or a serious clog. They make a water jet system to do this as well. Kind of like a power washer at the end of a snake.
I'm having the same issue except it will stop draining at the level of the drain cap of the sink. I've got the snake but no matter what I do I cant get it more than 1 foot into the pipe except for when it goes up the vent stack and i hear it up at the roof
Backyard Maine the things to do differently is a it doesn't look like it vented put an air admittance valve on the top of the line that goes up for the dishwasher it will help allow air to come into the system and drain things quicker also on the end of a snake when you go to snake things give it a 45° Bend or slightly less even if you want but bend the tip of the snake a it will make it easier to make it around bends and be when it's going through a straight pipe it will swirl around and catch more of the inside diameter of the pipe that way it will clean better run it slow as far as the pace going forward but run it at the highest speed that you can and when you're done snaking run hot water slowly down the line that will soften any grease in the line and then go and fill both sides of your sink with this hot of water as you could stand or if it's too hot just go and pull the stoppers out with a set of tongs or pliers or something and let that huge rush of water then after the grease is softened that big gush of water will push it to your main where it's no longer going to be a problem
Wow! I would rip out that entire drainage situation that you have there. That whole setup makes absolutely NO sense! No wonder you have to repair that.
@@BackyardMaine I only say that because I also had to rip out all of mine this past weekend. The one thing they (original plumber) did that I do appreciate is that they installed two separate outlets or drains in the wall where the main sink drains to one and the disposal drains to another. Both have P-traps, but they're drain very nicely. What I should have done (didn't think of it) is added an additional access point for a 'Snake' access, if I ever needed it. Hind-sight is always 20/20. I feel like I'm ready to do another! Not! Later!
@@stephensmith60 Maybe you can come over and do mine and I'll video you and put it up on the channel. lol. I have a rough sketch of what I want to do and I also have a clean out drawn in. I replaced the drum traps in the three bathrooms last year but I have been putting off the one in the kitchen because it has two sinks and a dishwasher going into one drain.
@ Too bad I can’t send you the pictures of what I ended up with. It’s very close to what the original installer did, but my pipes line up. Theirs were 3/4” off! Plus I also made sure that my pipes ended up with the required slope. Good luck! 👍
Also a reason why it may also drain so is o can't even see where a vent is for your sink, and it looks like according to code here in canda the change of direction exceeds 135 for your trap to your protecting vent.
I'm not a plumber by trade but I was thinking the same. Drum traps have been band here(WI) for, I think, more then 30-40yrs. My bathtub had one that I replaced.
Could have saved your money & avoided the labor. Heat 2 pots of water to just before boiling, pour in 1, wait 2 minutes, pour in the other, wait 5 minutes, flush with cold water. Done.
If you want to purchase a similar snake click on the attached amazon link. SNAKE - amzn.to/3llwj0e
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases while not increasing your purchase price).
This video helped me alot!! Thank you! It actually took me a while to figure out how to use the auger properly. I was doing it wrong at first. My clog was into the wall and down into the drain in the slab. I didn't understand at first that the hand screw on the auger needs to be lose as you are pulling the cable out of the auger and pushing it into the pipe and then when it won't go any further due to an obstruction you tighten the screw against the cable before using the drill, and the drill trigger only needs to be slightly pulled where the cable is turning slowly as you keep the cable from coming out. At first when pushing the cable in some of it folded over and was just wrapping around itself. I learned I had to use a flashlight and make sure as I pushed it in that it was going down the pipe and not folding. Once getting past a clog you loosen the screw again to begin pushing the cable further into the pipe, each time you hit an obstruction you must tighten the screw against the cable again before using the drill and then when it seems the slack is coming out of the cable and it is going further into the pipe, loosen the screw again to pull out more cable to push into the pipe. So you actually loosen and tighten that screw quite a bit. Always clean the cable as you are pushing it back into the auger and clean out the hair and stuff out of the spring on the end before using it again or putting it up. Thanks again for posting this video! I'm sure it saved me at least a couple hundred dollars!!
Awesome. I'm glad it was helpful.
T M I
This could be the best how to video I’ve ever watched.
Wow, thank you so much.. My whole channel is dedicated to DIY or how to.
I upgraded my drains from 1.5" to 2" pipe. The original drain pipes were sagging and gunk got built up in the low points. Now my drains suck the water down in a beautiful vortex of goodness.
That’s a great sound after dealing with a slow drain.
No one has an under-sink area that clean! :)
I thought I mentioned that I pulled everything out first.. lol
@@BackyardMainehaha I think they mean they are disgusting
Lol Mine is that clean.
Umm ... yeah we do. Lol
Both sinks are half way full.....You optimist you! Well done!
You’re right! I’m a sink half full type of guy. 😂
It’s also a good practice to pour a large pan of hot water (heated on the stove) down the drain’s once a month or two to help melt out any grease or soap buildup.
You bet thanks.. We cook pasta at least once a week so the drain get a lot of hot water. My main issue is the drum traps. I really need to replace them soon.
Best vid on internet - thank you!
Wow, thanks!
Thanks man :) I was never taught this and your video helped me unclog the sink in my first home.
Glad I could help! Thanks for watching
Thank you for this video. I just bought a house and my sink is doing the exact same thing and including the bathroom sink on the opposite wall and I am so frustrated. I bought the same auger at Harbor freight and was using it wrong 😂 So now I’m going to give it another go because I don’t want to call a plumber.
You are so welcome! Good luck..
I used steel cable wire as well and that cleared it out too.
It was small and flexible enough to go down the entire drain
Glad it worked.
Thanks so much no one explained the way you did. Save me thousand. Awesome video keep more coming
Glad it helped and thank you! My channel is mainly focused on how to/ DIY I have lots of content up now and much more to come.
Excellent info on where to go clean the drain. Thanks!
Thank you!
Well done, sir.
Thank you..
Awesome job.
Thanks for sharing.
Take care, EM.
My pleasure.... Thank you sir.
Nice video, gotta do this tomorrow
A long post but maybe it will help someone. I, too, had a slow draining kitchen sink where the clog was somewhere in the 2 inch PVC drain line, well beyond the trap. I tried 2 doses (1/2 bottle each) of a liquid drain cleaner which apparently softened up the debris it could reach but then caused a complete blockage of the line. That can be dangerous because now there is caustic standing water in the pipe. I tried a snake 17 feet into the pipe but still could not reach the clog. Before I called a plumber I went online to calculate how much standing water was in about 25 ft of pipe that I could see before it entered the concrete foundation floor. With approx 4 gallons in the line, I grabbed a 5 gallon pail and an additional bucket and some towels and drilled a 1/8 hole into the PVC about 2 feet above the floor. A small stream of water shot out for 10 secs, then stopped. What? Drilled a 1/4 inch hole and that gave a somewhat OK stream, 80% into the bucket and 20% running on the outside of the pipe onto the floor. Once that stopped as much as it was going to, I took a handsaw and cut the pipe right at the hole I drilled. Whoa -- I cut right through a whopping slug of a gelatinous clog. The top portion of pipe was still dripping and as I went to move it over the bucket about 2 feet of clog dropped out. Well, at that point I removed the remainder of the pipe above the fitting at the floor and figured there probably are roots in the sewer line. But when I started poking a hole in the clog with a large screwdriver, voila! The couple inches of remaining sludge sluiced down into the sewer line. The culprit of the clog? The inside of the 2 inch PVC that went into the fitting at the floor had not be de-burred -- it was clearly jagged from when it had been cut with a saw and glued into the fitting 15 years ago. That restriction trapped debris from the kitchen water and built up over the years to slowing the flow and creating a clog that grew upward from the basement floor. Thankfully, this line only drained the kitchen and not toilets. When reassembling, I used a rounded file to debur the inside of that connection and then I spliced in a wye with a cleanout plug for easier access in the future, if ever needed.
Wow, what a project..
@@BackyardMaine Yes sir! My two takeaways: ALWAYS de-bur / ream your pipe cuts AND be careful with drain cleaners. When in doubt, call in a professional.
Thank you for posting this helpful video!
My pleasure. So glad it was helpful.
Replace the elbow coming out of the trap with a TEE with a threaded cap on top for maintence access. Snakes are OK, but a pulsing line cleaner will do a much better job.
Thanks for the tip. I'm an electrician not a plumber..
Water and electricity both take the path of least resistance...
If Joe Pera was a host on HGTV instead of a music teacher in his fictional world
Man keeps bananas under his sink.
What?
Must be a Maine thing 🤣
no he doesnt, they are in a bowl on the counter
"We need to fix this"
That is a man's creed.
We can't help it.
Fantastic video instruction. Thanks!!
Glad it was helpful!
Very informative... Thanks for posting. I do have an old snake and I am having the same issue (U whaped pea trap) Dirty water actually also came out the washing machine drain which is in the same wall farther down. I did snake like 6 or 7 ft but no luck yet. Do you think I went far enough? Any other recommendations? Thanks in advance!!
If the problem still exists I would go further. I went quite a ways and kept pulling it back and forth while running the drill on the way out. I did that a few times to clear it out.
This is a great video and good information to know.
Thank you!
I boil a large pot of soapy water and pour that down the drain twice to make sure to get the grease to move on.
You could add a tee after that trap to access that pipe with a snake.
Step 1: Replace the drum traps. Considered unacceptable by many state's codes.
I agree. They are terrible. The builder had them installed in the kitchen and all three bathrooms. I'm going to replace them all at some point.
I've never come across those drum traps. Hmmm. When I put this type of plumbing together I leave myself access through an extra T or Y fitting. Too bad the 90 after the drum isn't a T with an access.
Cool video. tHanks for posting it.
Yes a T-Fitting with a clean out would have been ideal. If I couldn’t get through the drum trap plan B was to cut it out and add one. Thanks for watching!
So how many feet of that wire did you get inside the pipe?
I think it was about 12 - 15 feet to the 4" drain. Several bends in the 2" though. It worked great and the sinks are still draining well today.
@@BackyardMaine ok thanks. Nice video by the way
@@fernandomunguia6714 thank you.
Very informative thank you sir!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching my friend.
@@BackyardMaine unfortunately snaking didn’t help either… i think it’s a serious issue deeper in the plumbing, thank you again… I’m new to all of this
@@Erawk2084 That's too bad. I was lucky I guess. I'm a professional electrician and engineer but only a DIY plumber.. lol
Excellent
Thank you so much 😀
I have the same problem and do a similar process about every six months my question is why does this happen and what can I do to correct this inconvenience?
For me the primary problem is the drum traps which should never be used especially in a kitchen sink. The second issue is the two sinks share one trap. I’m going to re- plumb everything under the sink in the near future.
Thank you so much
You're most welcome.. Thanks for watching.
So glad I came across this video. So we've been renting a house in TX on a year lease and haven't had any issues with the kitchen sink until the past two to three weeks now. This is the 4th time we've had to clear out the pea trap and every time we do so, it runs fine again. Until it doesn't. Is the constant pea trap clogging...is thst the pea trap issue, is it a slow draining sink issue or something else? Glad we only have 2 months left at this rental property...it just strikes me as odd that the landlord did not put a garbage disposal in the rental to avoid such back ups.
If you have a slow drain solids will not wash out of the trap as designed. I think the clogged trap is a symptom of a slow drain.
That all needs to be rebuilt! A lot going on for just a drain!
I do want to rebuild it. I don’t like drum traps and I have one for the dishwasher and one for the sinks. I’m an electrician not a plumber but I can rebuild it myself. Any advice is appreciated
my dad had those kinds of traps in copper pipes he was a plumber they got rid of them a long time ago they always tend to gather dirt never even knew they made plastic versions I think they are outlawed now. they want traps that are self cleaning smooth flow, so dirt does not gather in them. the only problem is they don't like S traps either, so they don't get sucked dry by syphon effect does your sink have a vent?
I found the secret to keeping my kitchen sink from getting backed up was not putting any grease down the sink we pour grease and oil into a steel can with some paper towels and throw it out wipe out pans with paper towels while warm.
if you have greasy water in sink wash it down with cold water then it won't stick to the pipes as it goes along warm and cools
Yup.. they are terrible. I need to get around to replacing the with P traps.
It’s the price of video content creation: making your 5hi7 pretty enough for public consumption. (It also makes him look like the kind of plumber that cleans up his messes.)
Never seen those type of traps. Interesting! Is that common up north? Generally pee-traps under each sink presents our backups. Thanks.
I think they're called barrel traps. I don't love them because kitchen waste can build up in them over time. I may replace them at some point.
Oh and yes they are quite common around here.
I tried a 25 and 50 ft. Both pretty clean with couple of debris it picked up. But still backs up...
Sorry to hear that.. I wish I could help.
Was the sewer vent check valve for me
I don't have this exact problem, but suds do come up the other side which only cause us to re-rinse the clean dishes
It's a minor irritation, but a slow drain is a more serious thing
I think once the drain slows a bit the suds will start coming up in the parallel sink. Yours probably isn't too bad just yet..
@@BackyardMaine this is true
4:48 bubbles is clogged little bit
Did you try pouring a
Bucket of soapy water? Were there any soap suds that came out at the other side of the kitchen sink?
Yes soap and suds were coming up every time we washed dishes.
Yes, yes and yes w boiling water tooo many times. Also vinegar and baking soda toooo many times.
Nice vid helpful thanks
Thank you sir.
Is it normal for the right side of the sink to drain slower than the left?
Yes it is since they usually share the same drain pipe and the one with the strait shot down will drain faster the the one that comes in from the side.
How do you get that snake past the bends!? I can get it past the first one but then its jammed solid. Any tricks?
I think the trick is to keep it spinning and slowly add pressure. If you try to shove it in it seems to get stuck.
@@BackyardMaine thank you! That actually worked ..... but it was too short. At least I learned a new skill though! 🤷♀️
@@christinek3122 You're welcome..
Bent the tail tip to 45°
Mine takes hours to drain ive tried everything snakes, drano plunger it just won't budge
Bummer. I guess it's time to call in a plumber. Sounds like either a venting issue or a serious clog. They make a water jet system to do this as well. Kind of like a power washer at the end of a snake.
I put hot water and soap after I wash.
You had bananas under the sink?
Yes always.. where do you keep yours? lol
I'm having the same issue except it will stop draining at the level of the drain cap of the sink. I've got the snake but no matter what I do I cant get it more than 1 foot into the pipe except for when it goes up the vent stack and i hear it up at the roof
That’s a bummer. I wish I could help
Backyard Maine the things to do differently is a it doesn't look like it vented put an air admittance valve on the top of the line that goes up for the dishwasher it will help allow air to come into the system and drain things quicker also on the end of a snake when you go to snake things give it a 45° Bend or slightly less even if you want but bend the tip of the snake a it will make it easier to make it around bends and be when it's going through a straight pipe it will swirl around and catch more of the inside diameter of the pipe that way it will clean better run it slow as far as the pace going forward but run it at the highest speed that you can and when you're done snaking run hot water slowly down the line that will soften any grease in the line and then go and fill both sides of your sink with this hot of water as you could stand or if it's too hot just go and pull the stoppers out with a set of tongs or pliers or something and let that huge rush of water then after the grease is softened that big gush of water will push it to your main where it's no longer going to be a problem
That's all great information Bob. Thank you!
@@BackyardMaine always glad to help a fellow tradesman
@@bobmeyer9711 Likewise my friend. Thanks again.
@@BackyardMaine thank u for teaching this older plumber how to do a few new things also
@@bobmeyer9711 My pleasure.
Wow! I would rip out that entire drainage situation that you have there. That whole setup makes absolutely NO sense! No wonder you have to repair that.
That’s on my list. The plumber who piped my house thought he was a genius. I think he was something else
@@BackyardMaine I only say that because I also had to rip out all of mine this past weekend. The one thing they (original plumber) did that I do appreciate is that they installed two separate outlets or drains in the wall where the main sink drains to one and the disposal drains to another. Both have P-traps, but they're drain very nicely. What I should have done (didn't think of it) is added an additional access point for a 'Snake' access, if I ever needed it. Hind-sight is always 20/20. I feel like I'm ready to do another! Not! Later!
@@stephensmith60 Maybe you can come over and do mine and I'll video you and put it up on the channel. lol. I have a rough sketch of what I want to do and I also have a clean out drawn in. I replaced the drum traps in the three bathrooms last year but I have been putting off the one in the kitchen because it has two sinks and a dishwasher going into one drain.
@ Too bad I can’t send you the pictures of what I ended up with. It’s very close to what the original installer did, but my pipes line up. Theirs were 3/4” off! Plus I also made sure that my pipes ended up with the required slope. Good luck! 👍
Id SAY in Maine in SNOW to clean that would be @ Least $500.00?..............
This is really what my sink is doing 🙄
I’m guessing it’s a common problem but I couldn’t find a TH-cam video on how to fix it which is one of the reasons why I recorded this one.
Those drum traps are banned up in canada
Really. I don’t like them at all. I’ll probably remove them all someday if I get ambitious. I have five of them in total.
@@BackyardMaine yeah it's because it clogs so often.
Also a reason why it may also drain so is o can't even see where a vent is for your sink, and it looks like according to code here in canda the change of direction exceeds 135 for your trap to your protecting vent.
Isn’t that an s trap
I believe they’re called drum traps. I really don’t like them.
I'm not a plumber by trade but I was thinking the same. Drum traps have been band here(WI) for, I think, more then 30-40yrs. My bathtub had one that I replaced.
A garbage disposal might be indicated here
Could have saved your money & avoided the labor. Heat 2 pots of water to just before boiling, pour in 1, wait 2 minutes, pour in the other, wait 5 minutes, flush with cold water. Done.
Tried that actually several times. Also tried liquid plumber. Then I decided to get dirty and actually fix the problem.
I like how you went over and beyond to prep your spot for a service by even removing the door on both sides🤌🏻
Thank you!