Please Help! My bathroom sink is draining into the bathtub and the bathtub seems to be clogged. This is what I have done. I bailed out the bathtub so there was no water in it. I removed the bathroom sink trap and used an auger - to no avail - could find no clog. I removed the overflow thing on the tub, clogged it with a towel and plunged to death only to have blackish sooty water come back at me. I would like to use the auger down the tub drain but when I removed the strainer looking thing, there is no room for the auger to fit down the drain. PLEASE HELP
PS I have already done the baking soda, vinegar, etc.

You are working way too hard with no useful results.
I'd put it to bed for tonite and call in a pro for the morning...

They'll have you back in business nice and quick...
Save a little and put what you have taken apart back together...

If it is just the sink and tub he''ll probably go through the sink drain...

What is with all this baking soda and vinegar usage anyway...
All it does is make a neutralizing chemical reaction...
I had a call recently where the trap was packed with fizzed out baking soda...
It was hard packed and brutal to dig out of the pipe...

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Hiya Suzanna
Sounds like you have a clog. Hair balls and soap grease from years of use have taken up home in your wasteline.
With the proper equipment, skills and knowledge those clogs can be removed very quickly. Chemicals rarely have any effect on clogs and they can leave a lingering odor too.

Call a licensed plumber in the morning and have both peace of mind and a sink and tub that drains like it should.

Best Wishes

instead of going down the tub drain you should put your snake down the overflow. Usually just one screw to remove cover. Do you know how to properly use your hand snake?

With the sink backing up into the tub I would have worked from a removed trap on the sink...

But, If you want for sure results a pro will Git~R~Done...

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Since 1995 (3 years before Google started) PlumbingSupply.com has been THE best plumbing supplier on the web. Please visit our sponsor [www.PlumbingSupply.com]

Time to call in a plumber! I had a customer last year that tried the baking soda and vinegar, then poured in some of the potent acid cleaner on top of it. I showed up and found a mess on the kitchen ceiling. She had a very bad reaction and the only way for it to go was up! Shot straight up to the ceiling. She was very lucky her face wasn't over it when it happened. Call a pro.



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Do not snake the drain yourself. I get dozens of calls from people that have got themselves in a bind doing so.

Call a licensed professional plumber. Make sure the plumber you choose has BOTH a sewer machine with larger diameter cable AND a sink machine with smaller cable. This is important. Don't pay someone who doesn't have both.

Chances are the clog is in your main building drain not your tub and sink. This will require a large machine to be run from your roof or your clean out.

You can check this yourself before calling the plumber as follows:

1. Back up standing water in your tub by running the lavatory and the tub.

2. Once there is standing water in the tub, flush the toilet.

3. Watch the water level in the tub. If when you flush it rises, the main line is blocked up and you will need a sewer machine to unstop it. If the water level does not rise when you flush, a sink machine from the lavatory or tub vent ought to get the job done.

Good luck, and be sure your plumber is licensed and reputable!

re.: #3, If the main sewer is the problem,the toilet will probably fill, and overflow, before it starts to come up in the bathtub.

A good point. You should stand ready to shut the water off at the stop, or slam the flapper down inside the tank incase it tries to overflow. Most 1.6 gpf won't brim over, though they might seep around the base.

At any rate, you have to diagnose where the clog is somehow or other before 'snaking' it.

Best bet is to call a pro for this type of clog.