Chronic problem with kitchen drain


  #1  
Old 07-23-15, 12:00 PM
I
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: illinois
Posts: 97
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Chronic problem with kitchen drain

I have a chronic problem with my kitchen drain. It tends to clog at least once a year. Once it clogs only thing that unclogs is snake.

We pamper this so much not throwing any thing greasy. We also have disposal. But it still clogs.

The drain pipe is about 25 to 30 feet long. It is PVC. I am not sure about the dia. I think it is 2 1/2 inches. The clog seems to be some where after 15 feet may be more towards the farthest end of the pipe where it connects to bigger drain.

I am suspecting two things:

1. Is there a sag in the pipe? I cannot see it. The pipe is in my finished basement and it is behind solid ceiling.

2. Is there a joint in the pipeline some where in the middle? Again I cannot see it visually.

I am thinking water is not fully draining as the days go by it is forming gunk and it accumulates.... In order to diagnose this further, do you think a drain camera will be able to detect water?

Thanks for your responses.
 
  #2  
Old 07-23-15, 12:11 PM
S
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: WI/MN
Posts: 19,119
Received 1,262 Upvotes on 1,203 Posts
You say you have a disposal - are you using it?
 
  #3  
Old 07-23-15, 12:18 PM
I
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: illinois
Posts: 97
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
yes - We do use the disposal
 
  #4  
Old 07-23-15, 12:25 PM
P
Group Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: NC, USA
Posts: 27,592
Received 2,144 Upvotes on 1,920 Posts
If the horizontal run 25 or 30' there is a real chance the fall was "cheated". A drain camera would be able to spot a low spot which should hold water. But paying for a camera does not fix anything so if you are resigned to opening up the wall to fix the pipe then you might consider forgoing the camera inspection cost.

Can you see either end of the pipe? If so measure how far down each end is. You'd expect the discharge end to be about 6" lower than the sink end. If yours are only a couple inches different then you know it is too shallow and the shallower it is the more critical installing the pipe straight becomes as the slightest dip can hold water.
 
  #5  
Old 07-24-15, 11:22 AM
Z
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 6,086
Received 419 Upvotes on 372 Posts
The problem with most snakes is while they do a good job with solid blockages (toilet paper for example), they don't do great with grease or softer blockages. They tend to just poke a hole in the blockage without actually clearing it. This is most often a problem with older galvanized drain pipes, but I could see a similar problem with a mis-sloped PVC drain collecting gunk.

A snake with a head on it could solve your problem for a much longer time. But the main cause is probably a dip in the pipe like Pilot Dane mentioned. I think your long term solution is going to have to be looking at the pipe drop in the basement and possibly correcting it.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: