:confused: Our basement drain and air conditioner drain along with the upper level kitchen sink drain apparently meet under the basement floor before going on to the main drain. All 3 must be connected as we can put water in any of them and it comes up in the basement drain. We have been unable to get a "snake" far enough through to hit the main drain as it stops before then. The rest of the house drains work super! Is there a trick to getting a "snake" through a trap and on down line? I'd try about anything before we call a plumber! The water is standing up to the top of the floor drain. We've tried Liquid Plummer and so far no good! Thanks for any help you can give us.

There is no "magic trick" to snaking a floor drain. If there is a plug under the grate then that's a clean out. Simply unscrew it and snake from there. If not then remove the grate and send the snake down the open drain. There will be a return bend about 5 or 6 inches down that you will have to work around but once past that it's clear sailing. A power snake will work much better then a hand snake on floor drains. There is another way to clear a floor drain if it's blocked solid. Take your garden hose and jam it down the drain. Now take wet rags and caulk around the hose so it's water tight. Turn the water on and hold the rags in place. Hold them tight! There will be 45 PSI attempting to push them out. What you are doing is trying to blast the clog out with water pressure. Good luck, Tom

Can I get in on this in 2012?

I have access to both ends of a 1952 cast iron floor drain trap that is blocked. Only the trap is blocked, not the outflow line. Snakes can't disturb the blockage. Not even a power snake had any effect.

History - drain 99% unused until 1995 when AC condensate was fed to it. Thereafter it was treated with a cup or two of bleach every few months during AC season in Virginia.

Last month a half-cup of copper sulfate root eradicator was fed to the trap. Soon thereafter the trap was blocked.

Have we rotted the bottom of the trap? Is the blockage formed by mud encrusted gravel bound together by copper sulfate?

Is there a solution to opening the trap when a snake fails?