Any Plumbers in the house???

[Larry_OHF]

Okay, so I have the bathtub pipe backed up. I pour a whole bottle of the Drano Gel down it and all I get is brown water, but the stoppage is not cleared. I plunged it, but nothing was cleared that way either.

I did notice something wierd. Running water from the kitchen adds water to the bathtub, but that is the only water source in the house that seems to be connected. However, the kitchen sink is not suffering blockage.

Any help?

[T-D-C]

Hmmm, thats a strange one, so your saying that when you run water down the Kitchen Sink, water comes up through the drain into your bath tub ?

You may need to get a pro in on this one.

Or you may be able to hire what they call a "snake" from your local hardware store. basically you take off the drain cover and insert this snake into the pipe and it goes through and sucks up everything in its path to clean the pipe out.

As a side note I usualyl find the Drano Powder works better than the Gel.

[Larry_OHF]

Thanks!

[Felix The Assassin]

Hey Larry
What floor is the bathroom on? Kitchen?

Sorry TDC, a snake is not trained to do that. A Snake just bores a hole through the center of the clog, then widens it as you apply more pressure to the crank. Power drill hooked to it works best!

Really sounds like you have a collector clog. Or a breather clog.
Septic tank? Basement? Bilge up from basement?
What about the washing machine? Does it have any affect on the clog?

The brown water was from the 'drano', it creates a 'boiling' action in the clog, and attempts to move the clog, usually in the direction of the least amount of resistance. Thats why plumbers don't like it, ask if you have tried it, and double their premium if you have or admit you have.

Did I ever tell you about the time the garbage disposal had to be dissassembled do to a clog? Anyhow, if plunging it doesn't work, then it's time to have folks clean their hair from the drain after every use. A hair clog is not really tough, just persistant as it does not "dissapate" well at all. Keep plunging, or move to a snake. Be careful of that water due to the 'drano' being in it.

[T-D-C]

Thanks for the correction Felix. My dad is a plumber and I thought it did something like that.

I just knew that it would clear the drain, not sure how.

Hope it gets fixed Larry!

[Mack_Attack]

Sounds really weird but it sounds like maybe a trap is plugged or a blockage downstream of the kitchen sink and the bathroom. If you plug the bathroom drain does your kithchen sink still drain?? Either way a snake sounds like it may be the easy thing to get a fix your problem.

[Bungleau]

Mack just gave me another thought... if there seems to be a connection like that (between the kitchen sink and the bathtub), you might want to make sure the kitchen sink is stoppered when you try the plunger. That might help to move everything along...

[Larry_OHF]

To answer the question I was asked, it is all on the same floor, the sink and the tub. I only have one floor. We have city hook up, not a septic tank.

[Elif Godson]

is the bathroom on the oposide of the kitchen ? in my house it is this way. The Kitchen drains into the same flow as the bathroom as in anyhouse though, just depends on positioning. I am going to assume your on city sewage and not septic, if it was a septic issue your toilet would also be backing up if it isnt already. In the average house you will have 1 4" pipe that eveything will merge into. The toilet will be on a 4" converted down as you go because it has the largest volume of water at any time, 2 gallon flushes at once can make a nasty mees Depending on how old your house is, most pipes will be a 2", your bathroom sink and kitchen sink kwill be on a 1.5-2" as well. It isnt a trap issue but sounds like maybe you got a wash cloth down the drain in the bath tub which will be more then likely in the trap. As was mentioend above try a snake, if you do not feel comfortable with this, get a plumber, going rate now a days is probably around 50$ an hour or more. Good luck Larry

also, just an fyi, all those pipes you see on the top of your house, those are breathers for your plumbing, every sink, bathroom, kitchen exhaust etc run's to these. So if you have a small bug problem, like fruit flies that appear out of nowhere, or rodents even or the bad smell that you just cannot find in the house, these can be the cause of it. I put a bit of window screening around mine and duct taped them to the pipe, always make sure these pipes are unobscured for proper ventilation, it will and can save your life.

[ 05-06-2004, 09:27 AM: Message edited by: Elif Godson ]

[Larry_OHF]

Thanks! I shall let you guys know how it goes.