Sink blocked

4weeladdies

I swear by soda crystals when the sinks are draining slowly (never had an actual blocked one so not sure if it'll work on that!). About half a cupful down the plughole and rinsed away with a kettle of boiling water - works a dream every time!

Birdy12

I've posted on the DIY thread but though I'd try here too.

The water in my bathroom sink drains slowly and, 2 days ago, there was a stagnant water smell. Having put 2 and 2 togther, we took the u-bend bit off and cleared away the gunk.

The smell has gone and the water is draining better but not as it normally does.

Does Drain Buster/Doctor work? What's another alterntive to cleaning the pipes leading to the drain? The drains are clear by the way.

Cheers, Birdy

VfM4meplse

My sink was draining very slowly - the sink strainer was clear, so I decided to unscrew the fitted plughole to see if I could clear any obvious obstruction. I cleared a bit but can see that it's completely congested and I don't think any chemical cleaner is going to shift it. In the process, I managed to pull the seal away from the plughole so any water now leaks into the unit underneath. I think the pipes are so blocked that rods are unlikely to work, it needs a full clearout. It's not fats etc, but the accumulation of 10+years of grime and limescale .

Ticklemouse wrote: »

After that, it's a case of taking the U bend off underneath and cleaning it manually. It's not that hard.

heatherw_01 wrote: »

Last time this happened to me, I took the U-Bend off and cleaned it out.

First confession....I'm a girl and don't feel confident about this. How do I do this? Is it just a case of unscrewing the parts with a bucket underneath and then cleaning through? I think I would be ok with that bit, but am less confident about putting it back together.

Part of me wants to call a plumber out and part of me thinks there's nothing to be lost as the seal needs to be replaced anyway. Would home insurance cover it as an emergency given that I have taken the plughole away myself? Either way, the kitchen will be out of action until I can fix it.

Hope someone can supply some common sense here whilst I get some quotes.

triticale

4weeladdies wrote: »

I swear by soda crystals when the sinks are draining slowly (never had an actual blocked one so not sure if it'll work on that!). About half a cupful down the plughole and rinsed away with a kettle of boiling water - works a dream every time!

That's exactly what I do, was surprised no-one had mentioned soda crystals before.

Less than £1 a bag and if you have a Home Bargains nearby you can them for about 60p a bag. :beer:

imogen-p

For bathroom sinks/baths if it's hair that causing the problem using cheap hair removal cream either supermarket own brand or £ stores work well.

Water it down a little bit so that it'll pour down the plug hole and leave for a couple of hours, and then rise through with hot water.

Badrick

VfM4meplse wrote: »

First confession....I'm a girl and don't feel confident about this. How do I do this? Is it just a case of unscrewing the parts with a bucket underneath and then cleaning through? I think I would be ok with that bit, but am less confident about putting it back together.


Hope someone can supply some common sense here whilst I get some quotes.

There's a step by step tutorial with pictures HERE, (step 5 onwards ) you'll also need a new washer to replace the leaky plughole one if the original one's damaged (you might have just sqeezed it out of place). If it is a kitchen sink, it'll be 1 1/2" or a cloakroom/bathroom sink should be 1 1/4"(or take old plughole with you). Just make sure the little rubber rings are in place and aren't twisted, if you have to push any bits onto pipes, smear washing up liquid on pipe end.
Plumbers merchants and local diy shops will be alot cheaper than the diy superstores.
hth

VfM4meplse

Badrick wrote: »

There's a step by step tutorial with pictures HERE, (step 5 onwards ) you'll also need a new washer to replace the leaky plughole one if the original one's damaged (you might have just sqeezed it out of place). If it is a kitchen sink, it'll be 1 1/2" or a cloakroom/bathroom sink should be 1 1/4"(or take old plughole with you). Just make sure the little rubber rings are in place and aren't twisted, if you have to push any bits onto pipes, smear washing up liquid on pipe end.
Plumbers merchants and local diy shops will be alot cheaper than the diy superstores.
hth

Thanks Badrick! I dismantled everything and it turned out the problem was nowhere near as bad as I had thought - the blockage was actually at the top and a good poke with an old toothbrush was all that was required in the end. I still need to reseal the plughole, B&Q only had the stuff that looks like strips of underlay with clips, what I'm after is something that comes in a tube so will visit my local plumbers merchant first thing tomorrow.

ETA: quotes were silly prices as I suspected - the min charge £79 +VAT I thought was too high for the work involved.

jinkssick

a good one when all else fails and especially for shower blockages is a metal coat hanger bent straight and use to twke out nastiness.

Ossy

For us it is soda crystals too. They work quickly and efficiently as others have said, and are inexpensive.:)

kittywight

hi everyone,

need help, i have a blocked kitchen sink (think it may be grease/fat from yesterdays dinner)

i have no plunger, no wire hanger and no sink unblock products:T

i tried to fill up the sink with hot water thinking it would melt/move the blockage but nope, im left with a blocked sink full of water :cool:

any chance of me sorting this tonight? or should i just go buy a plunger tommorow

thanks guys

xx