Drain stopped up? Try these quick fixes

January 04, 2002|By James Cummings, Cox News Service.

Technically, my house has two full baths. It said so in the real estate listing when I bought it.

But for all practical purposes, the family considers it, at best, a bath and a half, and more often than not about a bath and a quarter.

The downstairs toilet and sink are for emergency use only. Usually going up and down two flights of stairs is preferable to flirting with plumbing disaster. Dealing with the situation when "that which should go away" does not has honed my drain-clearing skills.

As water moves through a drain pipe, any solids suspended in the water and minerals dissolved in the water can adhere to surfaces inside the pipe. Microbial life interacts with the debris to form a layer of gunk that thickens over time. Add a little hair, food grease, soap scum, beauty-product residue and everything else that can go down a drain, and clogs happen.

Most clogs are caused when material accumulates around strainers, mechanical drain stoppers and bends and joints in the drain pipe.

When a sink or toilet clogs, a few minutes with a plunger usually is all you need to get things flowing again, at least temporarily.

The classic cup-shaped rubber plunger sells for about $2 to $5 and is effective on flat-bottom sinks with minor clogs. Plungers designed specifically for toilets add a collarlike extension on the bottom of the cup that fits snugly through the opening of the toilet drain. They cost about $8.

Selling for about the same price are the fairly new flexible plastic plungers that have bodies like bellows. The collapsible shape of the plastic plungers allow them to move more water with each thrust.

To use a plunger in a double sink, stuff a wet rag in the drain on one side. In sinks or tubs with overflow drains, cover the overflow with a damp rag. Have a helper hold these temporary stoppers firmly in place while you plunge; otherwise the air moving in and out through the opening will reduce the plunger's force.

- Smear a little petroleum jelly on the rim of the plunger and leave a couple of inches of water in the sink. Use short, quick, push-and-pull motions, stopping every minute or so to check your progress.

- If the water starts flowing out, run hot water for a minute to help dissolve the residue of the clog. If about 10 minutes of plunging doesn't clear the clog, you'll have to try more drastic steps.

- Liquid drain cleaners found at grocery, home improvement and discount stores can be effective in dissolving hair and grease clogs. Drain cleaners, though, are harsh chemicals and should be used only according to package instructions.

Also be sure the drain-cleaning liquid is compatible with your drainage system. Some drain cleaners shouldn't be used with septic-tank systems, for example.

Most sinks have a U-shaped bend called a trap under the main drain. The trap is there to hold a bit of water in the drain. Without the water in the trap, smelly sewer gases would come up through your sink drains, making your house unlivable. But the trap is notorious for accumulating debris that clogs the drain.

To remove and clean the trap, you'll need a pair of channel-type pliers, a bucket and a tube of pipe compound or pipe thread tape. If the drain is a decorative exposed-metal type, you'll need some masking tape. You might need a second pair of pliers if the drain nuts are rusty.

Take out the sink plug and bail as much water as you can out of the sink. Place the bucket under the trap to catch the water still in the sink.

Use the channel-type pliers or a pipe wrench to loosen the nuts at both ends of the trap. Grip the adjoining pipes with your free hand to avoid moving them out of place. If you're working with metal pipe, wrap the jaws of the pliers in masking tape to avoid scratching the finish.

If the nuts don't readily loosen, you might need to use a second wrench to carefully hold the adjoining pipe steady while applying additional pressure to turn the nuts.

When you get the trap off, you should be able to get at any obstructions inside and pull them loose. Clean the inside of the trap with a bottle brush.

Apply pipe compound or pipe thread tape to the threads of the trap and reattach the nuts by hand. After the nuts are hand-tightened, tighten them with the pliers, using moderate pressure. Run water to test for leaks.

Sometimes, removing strainers or mechanical drain plugs lets you remove an obstruction. Sink strainers typically can be removed by loosening a single screw.

If your tub has a drain that's controlled by a knob or lever underneath the faucet, you can dismantle the mechanism to check it for clogs. First flip the lever to the open position and pull the plug out of the drain. Then loosen the screws alongside the lever and carefully pull out the face plate and the links attached to it. Clean the links and reinstall everything in reverse order.