A tenant just moved into a house and during the first week called to say kitchen sink is backed up.

Said hasn't put anything down there except some left over salad lettuce, tomatoes etc...no oil, no grease, no fat.

Tenant had poured down a bottle of Drano prior to calling me.

Tenant also used a plunger but of course no use. Plunging one sink will push water into another sink, plus it may even back into the dishwasher via the hose.

OK. Went there to have a look. Took apart the p-trap below and it was full of water. Nothing clogging the trap.

I don't have a hand snake with me at the time so had to stop my investigation.

Flushed toilet and opened tub faucet, I can see water coming down to the cleanout so the main drain is clear.

It must be a clog from the stubout to the santee or further down. The trap arm is a 1-1/2" copper, the vent is 2" CI, so I assume the kitchen drain is 2" CI.

My options are (A) go buy a 25' hand snake and try to go from the stubout to the santee and beyond or ( hire a drain cleaner to go up to the roof and clear the line all the way to the CO.

Any suggestion which way to go? A, B or first A if that doesn't work B?

c. Hire a plumber to snake the drain from the "stub out" to the stoppage.

hj.....Do you know any plumbers that are going to be in Florida?

I know of a few...the one who plumbed a shower with no trap, the one who kinked my soft 3/4" copper line and put a sleeve over the kink to hide it, and the one who plumbed a drain pipe going up hill.

Where is Lemonplumber?

Well, I cleared the clog, or may be I should say water is draining.

I got a Ridgid autofeed 25' snake, and went from the stubout and spin and spin and spin. The problem is I have no idea how many feet of the cable went in, as I can't tell if it's advancing or just turning in place. The instructions say there is an autofeed feature but I am not sure it's working. I didn't feel any resistance or that I busted through a clog. I just kept spinning forward and backward, and when I reconnected the fittings, it did not clog anymore.

May be I cleared it. May be I only punched a pencil size hole in a blob of mess and it will clog again soon. Can't tell.

When I pulled the snake back, what seems to be on the head are green stuff, seaweed? What is it?





The tenant said she threw a left over salad down the garbage disposer. I assume lettuce tomatoes eggs may be pine nuts cashews crontons perhaps honey mustard dressing olive oil whatever.



Edited 1 times.

Were you able to get the salad bowl out?

No salad bowl :LOL:

I do have a question on the kitchen drain connection.



This is an old pics so much has changed, however, the middle fitting that I circled, it's called a "BAFFLE TEE" right?

I took it apart and if I look through the fitting from the top, I can see the area of the pipe inside was 50% obstructed by the branch coming in. Does that seem right? If I look at a san tee the branch does not reduce the cross section area of the pipe, is this a wrong baffle tee or this is how they do it?

Yeah, where is Lemon?

Had a similar set up with out a baffle tee and when the sink was emptied and the disposal was turned on water and ground food would shoot out the other side.

Normally that snake WOULD punch a small hole through the obstruction. IF water flowing through the hole could break up the rest of it and wash it away, then you cleared the line, otherwise you just prolonged the time until it stops up again.

That is a "baffle" tee, and the definition of a "baffle" is that it is a "barrier" that connects the two drains and diverts the flow. Without the baffle waste would splash out of the other drain when the disposer was running.

But that cuts the 1-1/4" pipe into may be only 3/4" pipe...guess I am just "baffled" by it LOL.

IT should be a 1 1/2" pipe and cutting it in "half" is NOT the same as a 3/4" pipe, it is equivalent to a 1"+ pipe which is still larger than the openings in your sink drain.

I think the baffle T is for when you have a disposer on the other sink. If there is not a disposer the baffle is not needed

quote; If there is not a disposer the baffle is not needed

It may NOT be needed, but ALL plastic 2 sink drain connectors come with a baffle tee, and most brass ones do also.