Double sink will NOT drain!

[TrojanManTX]

I have a double sink in my kitchen that is backing up. On the left side is a sink with a garbage disposal, on the right side is a regular sink. I tried disconnecting every pipe under the sink to let them drain and clean them, but I couldn't find a blockage there.

Next step was to snake it. I tried using a 20 foot snake, it went through without any issues what so ever, but the sinks are still backing up. I then tried a 25 foot snake, and it's still backing up.

None of the other sinks, showers, or drains in my house are having any issues. I'm completely and utterly stumped. I'm not a plumber by any means, but this isn't rocket science.

Someone else suggested using a heavy duty Drano or other clog remover, but I would think that if water won't drain, then the cleaner probably won't be able to work it's magic either.

(I posted a link to some photos below, but IDK if they will show up. If the do, then the picture of under the sink shows an orange arrow at where I snaked the line at. Also, the picture of the outside of the house shows two small pipes coming off the wall. Maybe a drain washout?)

 

[FullySprinklered]

To be clear, do the sinks fill with water and don't drain out, or do they just leave standing water down in the disposer?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[TrojanManTX]

Both sinks are slowly filling up as the water is running.

 

[FullySprinklered]

They eventually run out?

 

[TrojanManTX]

No, they aren't running out at all. (Edit: They seem to be draining VERY very slowly.)

 

[FullySprinklered]

That sucks.

Let's start with some chemicals. Put a bucket under the trap and remove it, let the water out, reinstall the trap. You're trap is installed backwards, by the way, because your drain stub-out is too high for the depth of the existing sink. Worry about that later, if at all.

Now, pour half a gallon of Zep gel down the drain followed by hot water. Note: if it takes a while to for the hot water to get up to the sink, put a stopper in one of the sinks and run hot water until the water coming from the spout is scalding hot. Hot water down the kitchen sink drain is a good thing.

The chemical sucks as a cure-all, but it does make the clog slimy enough to help it move to the next size up drain pipe, and hopefully off the property.
.
Fill the sinks with hot water.

Go read a few chapters of Gone With The Wind.

If the water level has gone down some, that's progress.

You can repeat the process as necessary. Patience will bring victory.

Remember that the hand-crank snake can bore a hole right through a clog and not move it or break it up. It can also grab a hair clog and pull it back and forth in the pipes until it belittles your triple-digit IQ.

 

[Plumber69]

If your using a hand snake that's your problem. Get a powered one

 

[MACPLUMB]

NO ! DRAIN CHEMICALS ! Go with what Plumber69 posted you need a electric powered snake that can reach out to
at least 50' or more
those outside pipes are water pipes NOT Drain pipes

 

[Jadnashua]

It looks like the height of the drain going into the wall is too high. There should be a little drop from the output of the garbage disposal to the exit point in the wall. That will slow things down, but isn't the only problem. If the trap wasn't backwards, you'd have the minimum drop...water wants to flow downhill...it doesn't go horizontally all that great - it needs that gravity to help.

If you turn the garbage disposal on, that will act like a pump, and the sinks will probably drain better.

 

[Dj2]

All good advice, except the use of chemicals. I think you have a blockage further than 25'.

You have to correct the drain by lowering the wall T. Is the drain pipe in the wall a 2" pipe or 1.5" ?

 

[Plumber69]

I get people all the time with plugged sinks. And the say they snaked it 25 feet with a manual snake. After they don't succeed. My 20ft power snake gets it 95% of the time. Manual snakes will bundle up at the blockage

 

[hj]

And, I often need most of my 1/2x75' snake to clear a line.

 

[FullySprinklered]

Welp. There you go, Trojan. 300 years of plumbing experience focused on your stopped up sink. Makes me wonder if we're getting all the pertinent information from you.

 

[Terry]

I think it's time to call in someone with a power snake. The hand snake isn't going to cut it. Also, if the disposer is over eight years of age, consider replacing it. Often as they get older, they don't chip as well and you will start having drain issues. It's cheaper to replace the disposer every so often than it is to fight with the drain.
As as noted above, the drain from the wall is too high. It will work, but if ever you get into the wall again, it's a good idea to lower it.

 

[Reach4]

I don't know if the heights are as they seem in the photo. A level, possibly a laser level ,would be nice to check with. The Insinkerator Evolution Compact seems to have a higher outlet than some others.

See page 3 of
http://www.insinkerator.ca/sites/insinkerator.ca/files/downloads/products/Evolution_ICU_Web.pdf

However https://images.insinkerator.com/pdf/evoexcel_specs.pdf
says "* Add 1/2" when stainless steel sinks are used." I don't know if that statement applies to the Compact.

 

[TrojanManTX]

Since someone who shall remain nameless thinks that I haven't been giving all of the right details, let me elaborate... First, I'm outside of Beaumont, Texas. We just had three or four days worth of mid 20's of weather. (Very rare for that to happen here.) Even with weather conditions being icy, that shouldn't matter since my pipes are all run underground. Second, the house, disposal, sink, pipes, everything, was built in May of 2015. Everything is brand new. {I never run anything down the garbage disposal. (Never had one growing up, all of my big food debris/grease/oil/fat, etc goes in the garbage.) I love to cook and my kitchen is my favorite part of my house. I know what can go down the drain and what can't.} Third, over the course of the past four days, I've run a 20' snake, a 25' snake (with drill attachment), various chemical solutions (never mixed, never run another without letting the backed up water drain out), and also a water-jet-balloon (similar to a clog buster.){I feel like I should elaborate more here. On the picture I posted about of under the sink, that is where I put the clog buster balloon. While water was flowing at first, [I checked the washout, water WAS moving though it the first time around] it stopped after running the buster a second time and started backing up the airway on the roof. I'm thinking the clog came loose, moved down along the line, and got hung up elsewhere.} All the while the clog buster was running, I checked the other two sinks in my bathrooms, the two toilets, the tub and the shower, not to mention the utility room. I'm at my wits end. IDK what else to try short of calling a plumber or renting a power auger with a 75-100' snake.

 

[FullySprinklered]

Since someone who shall remain nameless thinks that I haven't been giving all of the right details, let me elaborate... First, I'm outside of Beaumont, Texas. We just had three or four days worth of mid 20's of weather. (Very rare for that to happen here.) Even with weather conditions being icy, that shouldn't matter since my pipes are all run underground. Second, the house, disposal, sink, pipes, everything, was built in May of 2015. Everything is brand new. {I never run anything down the garbage disposal. (Never had one growing up, all of my big food debris/grease/oil/fat, etc goes in the garbage.) I love to cook and my kitchen is my favorite part of my house. I know what can go down the drain and what can't.} Third, over the course of the past four days, I've run a 20' snake, a 25' snake (with drill attachment), various chemical solutions (never mixed, never run another without letting the backed up water drain out), and also a water-jet-balloon (similar to a clog buster.){I feel like I should elaborate more here. On the picture I posted about of under the sink, that is where I put the clog buster balloon. While water was flowing at first, [I checked the washout, water WAS moving though it the first time around] it stopped after running the buster a second time and started backing up the airway on the roof. I'm thinking the clog came loose, moved down along the line, and got hung up elsewhere.} All the while the clog buster was running, I checked the other two sinks in my bathrooms, the two toilets, the tub and the shower, not to mention the utility room. I'm at my wits end. IDK what else to try short of calling a plumber or renting a power auger with a 75-100' snake.

Looks like you've covered all the bases. Sorry, I often go to a job and listen patiently while the customer tells me whats what. It really throws me off my game because I come with my own checklist of things and I'm not there to justify their notion about what the problem really is. If they know, they would have fixed it themselves. Didn't mean to throw shade on your efforts.

One thing that works when nothing else does is to focus on pushing the clog into the next big pipe. I've never run a 2" pipe 75 feet from a kitchen sink. There's a bigger pipe down there somewhere. A snake will drill a hole through a clog and the operator pulls back squat. Sometime if I turn the snake backwards I can push the clog on down the pipe instead of making a self-healing hole . Hot water and/ or chemicals make the clog slimy and more likely to head on down the pike.

 

[hj]

I usually ignore what the customer thinks the problem is and just do what has to be done. Had one last week where the customer took the trap apart to "help me out" so the first thing I had to do was put it back together so I could do what REALLY had to be done.