My kitchen sink is clogged. Garbage disposal. Double basin sink, both sides filled with water. Will not plunge (covered one side with plunger and plunged the heck out of other side: nothing). If I turn on the disposal the water drains out of the one side and fills the other, when I turn it off they fill up equally. It might be my imagination but now it seems like my upstairs tub drained slower than usual tonight. My father-in-law says you're not supposed to use your garbage disposal and they sometimes have to dig up all your pipes over clogs like this. Really, you can't use it?? Anyway, I haven't tried Drain-O yet, almost ready to take the pipes apart and check that P trap. My house was built 5 years ago. I don't put grease down the disposal but probably use it daily, much to my father-in-law's chagrin.

Most of us have learned to not listen to our in-laws, you should start now. This clog is after the two sink drains come together. Disconnect the trap and be ready to catch a quart or two or really bad water. Remove the trap and rod straight into the wall with a snake no larger than 1/4". You will hit a 90 elbow about 6" into the wall so twist and push back and forth until you break through. Rod as far as you can and then reassembly. Fill the sink with hot water and try to drain. If it doesn't drain and you can't get any action from plunging then your clog is past the vent stack, you may be rodding down that stack next.

I Have a double sink. Garbage disposal drains. The non disposal side fills up and won't drain. What do I do?

Hi Cas...

Start by sticking your finger into the strainer and make sure a cap or something similar to that isn't stopping up the strainer.

If the strainer is free, try a plunger on the clogged side. Fill the sink with 2-3 inches of water and then plunge away.. see if that resolves the issue.

If that doesn't resolve the issue then you will need to disassemble the pipes going to the sink and see what you fin d in the drain pipe... ;)

More questions? Let me know, OK?

Mark

I just have a simple question. At least I think it is simple.
I use the disposal almost every day. My boyfriend puts all the scraps and all in the non-disposal side. He thinks its better... I am not a pro... but, to let the garbage go down a pipe that is not equipted to cut and drain just doesn't make sense to me. He says "the pipes are the same size and it makes no difference". I disagree. Also, Im the one that has to clean the mess every day... Can anyone tell me the better way?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Karen

Thank you! Has to disassemble all the pipes, there were several soon to be clogs and the main clog was in the bend.

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Im the one that has to clean the mess every day... Can anyone tell me the better way?

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Sure can! First send the "plumbing challenge" boyfriend to Plumbing School 101. And if he comes back as dumb as when he went in trade him in for a smarter model. What does he think the grinder table's for? That's right sports fans it's there to chop up the food so it will go down the pipe. I can't tell you much more. You were totally correct and he was so far wrong it would be laughable if it wasn't so totally dumb. Good luck, Tom