Plumbers get sprayed with Draino when sinks clog
12 posts in the last 60 days, all from r/Plumbing.
“This is the sink in a kitchenette in a house that I bought earlier this year. We haven’t used it much, but last night I cleaned off a plate in there and heard some dripping underneath. I took a look and it was back flowing around the black hose shown on the left. I detached the…”
“Resonable thought. However the plumbers response to the issue was "looks fine, don't put water directly in the drain". I'd there's many more problems to be found in this place than a simple screw up”
“My tub was very backed up so I put Green Gobbler in. The day after everything was completely clogged. The tub won't drain at all now. The toilet and sink back up into the tub now. I've tried plunging both the tub and toilet. I've tried an auger in both as well. Nothing is coming…”
Plumbers report being doused with caustic drain cleaner when customers attempt to fix clogged sinks themselves. The chemical spray creates unsafe working conditions and forces professionals to handle hazardous materials unexpectedly.
SOURCES (32)
“So to be clear, I know absolutely NOTHING about plumbing; the most I've ever done is hook up a garbage disposal. Last week I found my sink backing up from a clog, and had a company come out to snake it clear. That worked great…”
“This is the sink in a kitchenette in a house that I bought earlier this year. We haven’t used it much, but last night I cleaned off a plate in there and heard some dripping underneath. I took a look and it was back flowing around the black hose shown on the left. I detached the piping and cleaned out all the visible PVC. There was a fair bit of gunk in the U bend. I thought that might solve the problem. When I washed my hands afterwards, though, I took a look again, and there were bubbles formin”
“Saturday morning my dishwasher was full of water, sink was not draining (black hose). Noticed debris in the bendy tube, went to home depot and the worker said to replace it with a new one (I know they are not best, just wanted short term fix). I took out all tubes in this pic, and got as much as I could from the pipe in the wall, and there was a TON of gunk. But its still clogged Is it time to call a plumber? submitted by /u/Haktic [link] [comments]”
“Not a plumber but as a hvac/r tech I’ve seen and heard of other techs getting flashed in the face with draino or other caustic chemicals without being aware of”
“Or just use a PLUNGER if you want you can even go buy a new one so you're not using the one from the toilet but a plunger 98% of the time a plunger will solve all your problems.”
“This is so gross (I'm sorry). A week ago, I vomited in my bathroom sink in my apartment. Now, I've been out of a sink for a week even after clearing the drain as far as my hand could reach, and I used a sink plunger. I'm sure I could call what would the equivalent of maintenance would be, however, I had moved to Korea a few months ago, and with staff turnover, lack of information on who to contact, unable to speak Korean, and I admit I still don't have friends here—I feel like my”
“Resonable thought. However the plumbers response to the issue was "looks fine, don't put water directly in the drain". I'd there's many more problems to be found in this place than a simple screw up”
“My tub was very backed up so I put Green Gobbler in. The day after everything was completely clogged. The tub won't drain at all now. The toilet and sink back up into the tub now. I've tried plunging both the tub and toilet. I've tried an auger in both as well. Nothing is coming out. There's no hair. I don't know what to do. I can't afford a plumber. Is there anything else I can do? submitted by /u/Initial_Shower8356 [link] [comments]”
“Thanks! Will do and when i get a day off work I’ll do and buy one and get it installed. :)”
“No, clogged drains are clogged, venting never has anything to do with it. We vent fixtures to protect trap seals, not to help clogged pipes drain. We clear clogged pipes. Your pipes are clogged.”
“My kitchen sink has been almost blocked for a few days now - here’s what I have tried - P traps are completely clean - enzyme cleaner treatments - snakes all the way up to 50ft (powered auger) and verified it wasn’t coming out of the roof vent - snaked the roof vent, no blockages that I could reach Ideas of what’s next? I bought a jetter kit for a pressure washer as I can’t find a service that’ll do that for a rate I can reasonably afford, and I bought a bladder as well, but scared to use that (”
“So my apartment sink keeps exploding nasty stuff from the drain pretty violently and it reeks. We cleared the Ptrap previously, and have since called maintenance. My question is: while we wait on maintenance would disconnecting the P-trap stop the sink from occasionally vomiting or would it just keep expelling underneath the sink? Thanks! submitted by /u/Natural_Reputation42 [link] [comments]”
“A toilet in the house is stuck because of a poo. I’ve tried to use the plunger, dawn dish soap, and a snake (I don’t think I used the snake right bc it hit a hard spot but I think that was part of the toilet so it wouldn’t continue through the pipes) anyway what should I do to unclog this. submitted by /u/Flat-Eye-6644 [link] [comments]”
“My bathroom sink is having a hard time draining (maybe for 8-10 months) There are no clogs in any of the pipes. Originally I was thinking there was/is a venting issue with no airflow. Upon removing the pvc piping I poured water down the main drain to see if it would drain. I poured about 1 1/2 quarts of water down the drain before it got to the opening. Then it took 2 to 3 minutes for the water to drain to the bottom of the pipe where it bends. I put my auger down the pipe and got about 5-6 feet”
“It started having draining problems a year ago or maybe 2, and in those times it just didn't drain sometimes. We were using chemical drain cleaners for those time until it just stopped working, so we opened it up and found this, it felt like it was as hard as a rock. I basically got a small screwdriver and hammered the top of it to get this out, took at least 30 minutes or more to clean it out. submitted by /u/Cactuscatkyle [link] [comments]”
“https://preview.redd.it/0wmoqumpvjjh1.jpeg?width=1638&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9eb231d7b023ef04a350a4e36ad7a55a1a03f0d0”
“I’m astonished that this drain line wasn’t “draining”, Insert Sarcasm into the first comment! However, it appears the homeowner poured as much grease into the drain as they did water.”
“Plus one thing I've noticed in in newer houses is that the mix of cheaper light PVC piping and larger open concept houses means that kitchen drains are run much much longer. In an old house the kitchen drain line might run 5 or 10 ft before it ties into the main stack or even just goes into an old dry well. Or it used to anyways. In a newer build, there could be 50 - 60 ft of almost flat PVC in the basement before it ties into anything else”
“My wife does this , in the last 10 years there's a pipe I've had to change out twice due to it . Drives me mad and she denies it constantly.”
“What's even better is getting covered in Draino that the customer dumped down trying to clear it. I'll never forget to ask that question again. Luckily, there wasn't much head pressure for it to spray me in the face. I do have a tie dyed commemorative shirt though.”
“The snake wasn’t able to get through the real hard stuff that was the first attempt I tried. It was like a 10ft grease rock a jet might’ve been able to break it up but with there already being leaks at the turns from the amount of pressure on the pipes and it also being backpitched I told the customer they’d be much better off with a permanent solution that solves any future issues”
“Got it. I do run hot water for a while if I have to discard grease, like cleaning a pan after grilling steaks or making an omelette. Also my mom used to pour boiling water every now and then down the drain back home but I have read that's not recommended here.”