J
J Ratcliffe
Firstly, I hope this is in the right place. Apologies if not.
I am seeking advice with a blocked kitchen sink. I have tried a number of things, but none have been successful so I thought I'd advice before calling in the professionals.
The background to the issue is as follows:
On Sunday evening, while running the tap in the kitchen, it started to fill and was obviously blocked. We own a 3 floor Town House and the kitchen is on the first floor. The sink is of the double type - the left side being a normal sink, the right side having a garbage disposal unit fitted. Both sinks have separate pipes connected to the same downpipe which then disappears under the floor. The left sink fills, then the water level within the garbage disposal rises shortly after. If the garbage disposal is spun up while the left sink has water in it, the disposed water and waste appears out of the left sink.
I have tried the following:
Poured at least 20 litres of boiling water into the sink - No effect.
Plunging - No effect.
Removed all pipework from both sinks and confirmed no trap blockage - No effect.
Poured a litre of One Shot directly into the down pipe with the sink piping removed - No effect.
Poured a caustic soda solution directly into the down pipe with the sink piping removed - No effect.
Bought a 25 ft drain snake and extended it to maximum length. Repeated 5 times - No effect.
Assisting Information:
Every other sink, bath and shower drains without issue.
The drain snake came out of the sink in the bathroom next to the kitchen. When reversing the operation, and putting the drain snake down the down pipe in the bathroom sink, the drain snake came out of the kitchen sink downpipe. So, the two sinks are clearly connected, the pipework between them has been cleared at least 5 times, but the kitchen sink remains blocked while the bathroom sinks continues to drain perfectly.
After reassembling the kitchen pipework and running the hot tap, or pouring down boiling water, the sink fills again quickly, but while filling I can hear air gurgling from the garbage disposal. The water level holds steady for a while, then very slowly recedes. After the water has fallen below tap level, to what one would assume is the normal level within the trap, there is significant 'gurgling'.
I am not brilliant at DIY, but I've tried everything I can think of. The only other thought is that perhaps the kitchen sink has a vacuum issue? I have read of 'vents' on the internet, but I would have no idea how to confirm this. Further, as both kitchen and bathroom sinks are connected, one would assume they would share the same vent. But as the bathroom sink drains perfectly, this can't be the case.
I am utterly baffled. Can anyone help?
I am seeking advice with a blocked kitchen sink. I have tried a number of things, but none have been successful so I thought I'd advice before calling in the professionals.
The background to the issue is as follows:
On Sunday evening, while running the tap in the kitchen, it started to fill and was obviously blocked. We own a 3 floor Town House and the kitchen is on the first floor. The sink is of the double type - the left side being a normal sink, the right side having a garbage disposal unit fitted. Both sinks have separate pipes connected to the same downpipe which then disappears under the floor. The left sink fills, then the water level within the garbage disposal rises shortly after. If the garbage disposal is spun up while the left sink has water in it, the disposed water and waste appears out of the left sink.
I have tried the following:
Poured at least 20 litres of boiling water into the sink - No effect.
Plunging - No effect.
Removed all pipework from both sinks and confirmed no trap blockage - No effect.
Poured a litre of One Shot directly into the down pipe with the sink piping removed - No effect.
Poured a caustic soda solution directly into the down pipe with the sink piping removed - No effect.
Bought a 25 ft drain snake and extended it to maximum length. Repeated 5 times - No effect.
Assisting Information:
Every other sink, bath and shower drains without issue.
The drain snake came out of the sink in the bathroom next to the kitchen. When reversing the operation, and putting the drain snake down the down pipe in the bathroom sink, the drain snake came out of the kitchen sink downpipe. So, the two sinks are clearly connected, the pipework between them has been cleared at least 5 times, but the kitchen sink remains blocked while the bathroom sinks continues to drain perfectly.
After reassembling the kitchen pipework and running the hot tap, or pouring down boiling water, the sink fills again quickly, but while filling I can hear air gurgling from the garbage disposal. The water level holds steady for a while, then very slowly recedes. After the water has fallen below tap level, to what one would assume is the normal level within the trap, there is significant 'gurgling'.
I am not brilliant at DIY, but I've tried everything I can think of. The only other thought is that perhaps the kitchen sink has a vacuum issue? I have read of 'vents' on the internet, but I would have no idea how to confirm this. Further, as both kitchen and bathroom sinks are connected, one would assume they would share the same vent. But as the bathroom sink drains perfectly, this can't be the case.
I am utterly baffled. Can anyone help?
