I have a sink which doesn't drain when large amounts of water are poured into the sink (eg. Dishwasher drains). The water will sit in both sinks for hours before draining. Once drained, you can turn on the faucet & its drains fine. I have read the other thread on this subject and tried snake-ing from under the sink (removed trap; which was not clogged). My snake is about 20 ft long & fits on my drill. I did this 2x. I have also snaked the vent on the roof & ran water down w/ the garden hose. All this did was fill up the sinks.
Do I need a longer snake? Any ideas? I will try the vineger/ salt/ baking soda fix...
Thanks for any replies!

You missed the clog. Go back and snake again. Good luck, tom

Yep, need a longer snake. Snake again from the roof vent and put in enough cable to reach the lowest floor level in the home plus another twenty or thirty feet, just to be sure.. After that you should be back in business. Let us know how things work out.

Thanks for your suggestions. I went to Home Depot tonight & all they had were 25ft snakes. I have an equipment rental place near by; they probably have a longer unit. We had some snow last night so I can't do the snake through the roof vent. I'm thinking I should have easily cleared from the roof to the kitchen (~12ft), so I could probably snake from the kitchen.

Again, thanks you guys for responding so quickly. I'll post updates...

Ralph

I have also snaked the vent on the roof & ran water down w/ the garden hose. All this did was fill up the sinks.
As I said, ( and Lee backs me up)
You missed the clog. Go back and snake again.
The blockage is in the line under the floor. Rent a larger snake, Snake from the kitchen roof vent.
Put out enough snake to reach the base and 20 feet more. Good luck, Tom

Hi Tom,

Here's my update: I did the vinegar/soda/ salt thing before bed. This morning, dumped a pitcher of hot water down; now completely clogged. I bought a 50ft plumber's auger at loews. Took off the trap (caught the water in a bucket from the sinks). & ran the snake the entire 50ft w/o resistance. The weird thing is the snake came up completely dry except for the last 4ft, which was wet & almost freezing cold. Could a drain be frozen?

I then ran the snake down the roof vent (snow melted) & got it to go down 40ft. I felt resistance around this depth, but don't know if it was a bend or a clog. I worked this area a lot, but could not get past 40ft. I don't know why I could go down past 40 when I got down 50 from the kitchen which is 10ft lower than the vent. When I pulled the snake out, it had some black drain gunk, but not a lot.

I'm running the dishwasher now & it's still backed up, but not as bad. I guess my main question is why is the snake stopping at 40ft from the roof? Am I hitting a nasty clog? As I said, I really worked (twisted & pushed) to get past this area. Should I try again w/ more force?
Do I need an electric unit that might have more turning power?

(one more note; the water in the sink from the washer, is blackish)

Thanks for time in replying!

Ralph

Wish I had seen this yesterday, I could have saved you about $1. The vinegar, salt and baking soda is really only good for sink traps . FDo you have a basement and/or any clean outs below?

Hey Ballenger,

Thought I'd give the mix a try but knew it probably wouldn't work since the trap was clear...
I do have a clean out in the basement wall below the kitchen. It's a pain in the butt to get to (moving years of remodelling materials; drywall wood ect) as its behind a storage unit. Can be done though. If I open it, is tons of water going to come out? Do I snake up/ down or both?

Thanks for the reply!

Ralph

Okay, this is the cleanout you want to get to. Just don't run any water for a day or so in the kitchen sink, as long as the water goes down eventually in the sink after it backs up, the cleanout area should be dry. You should only have to snake down, because you already put in enough snake from the roof vent to clear the upper portion. I do recommend getting a power auger at this point. A power auger will help you get past that stubborn turn or clog.
Glad ballengerb asked about the cleanout. Now that we know you have one, this is definitely the place to auger from at this point. Good luck and please let us know how things work out.

Here is my rule for opening a clean out when you don't know if you have standing water up stream. Get a 1/8" sheet metal screw and a 1/8" drill bit. Drill a hole in the clean out cap, if water shoots out stick the screw in the hole and have a cup of coffee while you figure your next move. Remember that really isn't just water on the other side of the cap.

My Nightmare is over (for now)...

Lots has gone on since last posting. I figured out when I had snaked (w/ 50footer) from the sink, it went up (& out the roof stack), which is why it was dry except for the last 4ft (snow on the roof). I resnaked & got hung up at 30ft; which is the same distance from the roof (10ft higher than the kitchen). I gave up; 1st time in 22yr.s I had to call a plumber...

Found a place that did $99 drain clears; at this point it was worth it. He ran through 50ft & thought he cleared it. Reassembled trap; still clogged. Then he ran it again using all 75ft; still clogged. He said it had to be power jetted (or something) through the clean out. My assignment: move 20yrs or junk (2/3's of which I threw out today) to get to the cleanout...

Plumber 2 shows up last night (w/ few tools & has to borrow mine). 1st, cleanout cap had been glued on! We did Balinger's suggestion of drilling out 1st & draing water. He then was able to bust out the cap. Then he has to hookup water to his power washer, but it won't fit my landry sink tap. He then hooks up to my washing machine tap (getting a qt of water behind the washer). Turn on the water & spraying everywhere. Finally, he hooked to a different sink in the furnace room.

Time to powerwash! He turns on the unit & snaking down. Tons of sewage starts pouring out onto the floor (should I be surprised forcing a ton of water into a clogged line?). He gets his line in 50ft & says its clear. I suggested shooting water from the hose down to make sure. Still clogged. He then hooks up a larger hose w/ bigger head. Now he gets hung up at 20ft. He's ready to quit for the night, but tries a smaller head on the larger hose & makes it through. We run water through the hose & all clear!

Next was 2 hr.s of cleaning up, which he helped. Overall, I was happy to have the line cleared. I was pissed that I spent 4 hours helping this guy I was paying (total bill $199 which I think is incredibly cheap, so I guess I don't mind helping), but more so there was not some system to catch all the crap coming out of the cleanout. If I knew what was going to happen, I would have covered the floor w/ plastic sheeting. Had a 3rd guy by today for a camera snake; all clear.

Sorry to ramble... Thanks to all that responded to my problem! I truly appreciate your time writing.

Ralph

I'm just glad you got the problem solved. These type of situations do tend to get a bit messy.