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How to Clean a Kitchen Sink You may also like:
One of the most unsightly things to see in any house is a clogged drain causing a pool of standing water with debris swimming in it. The bathroom drain would most likely be clogged up with hair, or an occasional hair product cap. The kitchen drain, however, is another story.
If you:
Then read on!
Grease and food particles can easily cause a serious blockage that would halt your daily routine at home. Luckily, the Fantastic Services team is on the case and will explain how to unclog a kitchen sink drain with standing water.
Before you call the plumber, check if it’s not something you can fix yourself. Here are a few quick tips you can try to unclog the drain, before calling a professional.
If the clog isn’t cleared, the water would overflow in the sink. Observe it for a minute and see if it drains slowly or doesn’t drain at all. If it’s the former, it’s worth repeating the same homemade solution method again to see if there’s any progress. If it’s the latter, you will have to resort to using some plumbing tools.
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If the homemade potions failed you, it’s time to pull up your sleeves and take out the home maintenance tools.
Time needed: 45 minutes.
Here is how to plumb a sink:
As you can guess, you probably didn’t switch off the water immediately after you noticed that it wasn’t draining, so you’re now stuck with a sink full of water and waste. Before trying to resolve the problem, you have to clear up the debris. Chances are, there are a lot of food particles covering the drain anyway. It’s advisable to wear rubber gloves while doing that. If you’re lucky, removing the waste by hand might be enough to let the water drain by itself. If not, proceed to the next step.
Pay attention to the water. Is it still, or is it draining slowly? If it’s the latter, you can leave it for an hour, until it drains by itself. If not, you’ll have to remove it yourself. Use a plastic cup or any other vessel to scoop the water and dispose of it away from the sink. Once the sink is clear, it’s time to unclog the drain. There are three tools you can use for that.
Find a plunger and place it over the drain so that the suction cup creates a vacuum. Push the handle in and out. This would move the blockage towards the plunger. Listen to the sounds coming from the drain. Once you hear the pipes sounding empty, you will know the blockage is cleared. Have patience when working with the plunger, as it usually takes some time before you get results.
The P-trap is that curved part of the pipe beneath the sink. It can often get clogged up by food debris. In order to clear up the drain, you’ll have to remove the P-trap and rinse the pipe thoroughly. For that, you better know how to work with channel-type pliers. Place a bucket under the P-trap, because once it’s removed, it will spill a lot of water and trash.
Sometimes the blockage is located farther down than the P-trap. In this case, you’ll need a tool, called a drain snake. Push the end into the drain and turn the handle, so the auger journeys down the pipe. Push until you feel resistance. Rotate the snake against the blockage, in order for the tip to attach to the clog. Then, pull the snake out. The clog should come out with it. Run hot water for a few minutes to clear the pipe.
Most homeowners have a plunger and channel-type pliers somewhere in the closet, however, the drain snake is a very specific tool, used by professionals. Few people have it at hand and it’s not cheap either. If your drain problem requires a drain snake, it’s advisable to call a professional plumber. Check this post to learn more how much plumbers charge.
The best way to keep your drain from blocking again is reducing the amount of food waste that enters the drain to a minimum. To do that, before washing your dishes, dispose of any food leftovers in the rubbish bin, or even better – in a compost pile. If your plates are particularly greasy or oily, wipe them with a paper towel before washing.
Refrain from using traditional soap to avoid soap scum coating your drain. If this isn’t an option, make sure to pressure clean your drain on a regular basis to avoid buildup. Also, if you live in an area with hard water, you can install a water softener to avoid any mineral buildup.
Sometimes, you might notice your drains are smelly, despite not being blocked. It could mean that there is some kind of organic buildup. The reason for this could also be the age of the pipes. Here’s what you can do about it:
Put a stopper plug on the drain and fill your sink with hot water. Add some dish soap in it and stir until you are certain none of it has deposited on the bottom. Then, remove the plug and let all the hot water run through the drain. Sometimes, this is enough.
Another way is to put ice cubes, coarse salt, and lemon peels in the grinder and let it do its job. The ice and salt scrub the sides for any food particles and the lemon peels would add a pleasant fresh aroma that might linger for a whole day.
If you know how to plumb a sink, you won’t have any trouble to fix the problem yourself. But sometimes, you simply don’t have the time to spare for a tedious and frankly unpleasant maintenance task such as unclogging the kitchen sink drain. In these cases, you could always call a professional plumber to do the job for you.
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The best medicine for any home disaster is prevention. If you don’t want to ever deal with clogged drains, build a habit of not using the kitchen sink as a rubbish bin. Do regular inspections of your home’s pipe system and, of course, call a professional plumber nearby plumber when the problem is out of hand.
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Have you ever had to unclog your kitchen sink? Tell us about your experience in the comments!
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