I live in a rented apartment that is next to the building's laundry room. The washers often back up into my kitchen sink. The maintenance staff first routed the main sink line, but it backed up a week later. Then they poured a gallon of an "acid" down the drain. Two weeks later, washers backing up, again. The maintenance don't understand why this is happening and say that nothing else can be done. I think the plumbing in the laundry room is getting clogged with lint and soap scum. Is there anything I can do with my sink to prevent backups? My sink has never clogged or been slow since I've lived here. Will regular use of a drain opener help? Thanks, Solitaire64

I want to replace the drain pipes for my kitchen sink and washing machine...i currently have a 35 year old house with 1 1/2 inch black iron and galvanized drain pipes...i can access the drain from the washing machine easily by removing a section of paneling...the kitchen sink is not easily accessible due to the kitchen cabinets... i had one plumber come out to quote me a price on replacing the orangeburg main sewer line, and i asked him about the drains...he said he would use 2 inch schedule 40 pvc drain pipe from the sink and the washing machine...he really felt it needed 2 inch pipe...he would simply cut through the bottom of the kitchen cabinet and run the pipe straight through the floor...he would attach a vent under the kitchen sink...on the washing machine, he would use fernco coupler to attach pvc to the existing vent... my questions are: 1...is 2 inch pipe the best or is it too big??? 2...is the undersink vent work well??? 3...is it ok to use 1 1/2 pipe from the drains and attach that to two inch under the house??? 4...what do i do with the old vent??? is there a cap or something to keep rain from coming down into the crawlspace through the pipe??? 5...what is the best way to attach the pvc to the main trunk under the house??? where should i cut the old 1 1/2 inch pipe off the trunk and attach the new pvc??? if you need any more information...please post back...thanks for your help...