1 22 degree and 5 90s before main - Clogged

Users who are viewing this thread

tr0y

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Wisconsin
Good Morning All -

New here and beating my head on the wall on clearing a kitchen sink drain, tried to hire a pro 3 times and all 3 no showed . I am handy and have skills, an electrician by trade and am pretty good about understanding systems and building.

My story begins, we live in a very rural area of Wisconsin farm country, house was built in the 50's has original cast iron plumbing in most parts of the house including the kitchen drain that I am fighting.

The drain in question is 2" pipe in all places except for the step-down right at the sink drain that is 1 1/2" for connection the sink plumbing. Another issue is when this house was built the original plumber did not plumb any clean-outs into the system anywhere. I assume this is due to the remote location and lax code enforcement when the home was built. Beyond this the plumbing was built very well, good slope, and assembled in a very nice and professional looking install.

I have profesional quality tools, I have an Electric Eel 1/2' 50 ft powered auger with a flexible spring tip / wire tip, I have used it and the larger one just like it to clear my main drains all the way to the septic tank

As for other drains in the home all are working fine and clear quickly, no water backs up into any other sink / shower / toilet anywhere in the house even in basement.

What I have done so far :

1. Checked to make sure vent line is not plugged, its not.
2. Augured down from the roof vent ran almost 75' of line out, came back clean.
3. Flow / Flood tested all other drains in the house none run slow.
4. Got about 12' of line into the kitchen drain, removed it very slowly while spinning the cable to try to catch / clear any debris in the line.
5. Tried some smaller sized tools, big box quality, to see if I could get a 1/4" or 3/8" cable to go deeper into the drain.
6. Cleared the line of water and tried chemical drain cleaner ( I know but I was desperate... )

None of the above yielded any success.

Here is what I think my issue is:

As the drain leaves under the sink there is a
1. 22° turn to the right
2. then followed by a 90° elbow down
3. then about 10" of pipe
4. another 90° elbow to the left
5. another 5' of pipe
6. yet another 90° down
7. 4' more 2" pipe
8. Another 90° right
9. 9' of 2" pipe
10. another 90° down
11. 3' of 2" into the main under the basement floor

Whew ... What a run huh ?

As far as I can tell no other in or outlets tie into this sink main line, it just snakes its way from the Kitchen to the Main.

I tried for hours to get the drain cables down this but I think that due to the number of turns at some point the cable is just so twisted and turned it wont make any more turns.

I feel that I am at the pint of having to cut in to the drain system and snake it in sections and repair the pipes ? Am I wrong here ? I would rather not have to cut in but I don't see much in the way of alternatives.

Does anyone here have any experience with anything like this ? Thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated .

tr0y
 

Reach4

Well-Known Member
Messages
38,795
Reaction score
4,413
Points
113
Location
IL
You don't mention a vent here, but a vent is not your problem anyway.
1. 22° turn to the right
2. then followed by a 90° elbow down
3. then about 10" of pipe
So at this point you are in the basement/cellar?
4. another 90° elbow to the left
At this point, you are facing the basement wall I presume? And this elbow is about 3 ft off of the basement floor? This will be a good place for a clog, and it will be a good place for a cleanout. That elbow should be a combination wye and 1/8 bend.
img_3.png


I have no experience with this. I am not a pro. Before cutting out pieces of cast iron pipe, make sure that what will remain will be well supported.

Can you replace the pipe above this point with PVC? If not, that is OK.

You will need to read up on how to cut cast iron pipe. You will use 2 in. Rubber Shielded Coupling to connect new PVC pieces to the cast iron that remains.
 

tr0y

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Wisconsin
Thanks Reach -

No sadly at step 4 I am still upstairs in the wall, behind kitchen cabinets ( Ayyyy ! ) I am not in the basement step 7 is the down pipe in the basement wall. I was going to go up this pipe a couple of feet cut it off, couple into PVC ( as it appears WI uses PVC for waste not ABS ?? ) replace the pipe, put in a 90° with a clean out, then replace the the long section described as #9 above and then also replace # 10 with the same tipe of 90° with a clean out and couple back into the pipe headed for the main. I am going to draw out this nightmare here shortly as the coffee kicks in a bit better.

Thanks
 

Reach4

Well-Known Member
Messages
38,795
Reaction score
4,413
Points
113
Location
IL
A diagram would help somebody with much more knowledge of this stuff to give better info.

Kitchen sink clogs tend to happen when you transition from vertical to horizontal. So a long sweep is called for there. For other drain turns, a long sweep could be helpful. A wye with a 1/8 bend glued in is equivalent to a combo, as I understand it. That can give some flexibility if you have to adjust the aim some.. You don't want to use sanitary tees except for their intended use.
 

hj

Master Plumber
Messages
33,600
Reaction score
1,037
Points
113
Location
Cave Creek, Arizona
Website
www.terrylove.com
I hope there was a reason for this convoluted drain line, otherwise the installer was an idiot, especially since you are also describing an illegal "S" trap, which MIGHT the the actual reason it does not drain, because, somewhere there could be a situation which is causing a "double trap" in the drain line, (and it could be elsewhere than in the sink drain line itself).
 

tr0y

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Wisconsin
I am guessing that this drain was done in some attempt to centralize the plumbing in this house or to keep it out and away from the cold Wisconsin winter by not running in exterior walls. But then I can only guess as the home is older than I am.

My other guess is that in 1951, no one really cared how it was done, I do know that only in the past 20 years they have required any building permits / inspections in this county and since doing some work here they are cursory at best, not once has any work I have done been even asked for a change or a redo, I wish I was that good but there were clearly a few times I expected to get dinged and the inspector said nothing.

Welcome to rural 'Merica...
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,771
Reaction score
1,191
Points
113
Location
New England
There's a reason why cleanouts are required after every certain number of degrees in change of direction...your run FAR exceeds those requirements. You'll not get a snake to go around that may corners. Probably your only option is to start to tear some stuff out and either rebuild the whole line from that sink, or add some cleanouts.
 

tr0y

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Wisconsin
Yeah well trust me I know, but what do you do when they don't exist. We are in planning stages of a remodel but it wasn't going to start till late fall as both my wife and I have lot's of travel to do for work and holiday till then. Well time to go cut some things open and see if a temp fix will get us through. Im tired of washing dishes in the bathtub.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks