Ok guys, I'm hoping you can help me without laughing at me since I'm a 39 y/o female not really knowing what I'm doing but have ABSOLUTELY NO MONEY to hire a plumber.

I have a double sink with an attached garbage disposal. When I would run the garbage disposal, the other sink would start filling up with water and the ground up food. When I would shut off the disposal, the first sink (the one with the disposal) would then back up too. After about a half hour, the sinks would drain. Therefore I'd wash my dishes in shifts, doing a little at a time, waiting for the sinks to drain & then resuming, being careful to dump any and all excess food in the trash so no more would go down the disposal. This was going on for about a week and now today the sinks will not drain.

When this first started happening last week, my friend's boyfriend took the pipes and disposal apart under the sink to check it out. (He is an electrician by trade and knows a little about plumbing but is not an expert.) We thought the disposer or a pipe was clogged and snaked it but he said everything's clear and I need a new check valve.

I'm not really sure if this is true after everything I've read on the internet but you know how the internet is... you can research on line of why you have a cough and a runny nose and in 15 min's you think you have some kind of strange incurable disease. I did find a question similar to this one on this website but I didn't understand most of the lingo and thought it got to technical-talking for me. I was going to go to a place like Lowe's or Home Depot and see if someone there can help me find a check valve but was afraid I'd be laughed right out of the store.

Can someone help, or attempt to help me? Please talk to me like I'm 2 years old. You may think I'm nuts, but I'm confident I can replace something under the sink if I know the right part I'm replacing. I have buckets ready for when I open the pipes and am aware it will start spilling out all over. I really do not want to ask my friend to ask her boyfriend again, especially since I have no money to offer him.

Please, please, I will take any kind of help or advice you can offer.

Thanks in advance,
Sunny

Your sink drain pipe is clogged. Check valve will not help you in his situation.

Your friend did the right thing. But I don't think he did a good job. He has to do it again. Do this:

1. Remove all drain pipes under the sink
2. Make sure the "T" fitting that connects Garbage disposer and sink drain. This fitting is "split T" meaning, there is a partition inside. Make sure there is no food stock inside there.
3. Make sure P-trap is clean
4. Make sure the wall inlet is not enclosed with rust and debris
5. Snake the line inside the wall. Go with the snake as far as you can but not less than 10'. Repeat several times.

Advice: Garbage disposers are good idea . But you have to use lots of hot water after each time you use it. Otherwise, food will get stuck in drains causing back ups.

Thanks so much, Milo! The pipe snake I have is only 4' long. It must be a girlie pipe snake! :-) I'll have to go get a REAL one that's at least 10' and try that.

Also thanks for the info about using lots of hot water while using the disposer. I didn't know it mattered if the water was hot or cold. My house is old and it was already here when I moved in. Guess I am learning these things the hard way. I appreciate all your help and for not laughing at me, or at least not letting me know if you did. :-) Have a great day!

Sunny, you can rent 3/8" x 25' snake in Home Depot. Wear gloves when handling the snake.

Good luck... and don't forget to come back to let us know how you did ! Milo

Hi Milo. After calling several Home Depot's by me, turns out the closest one that actually rents tools/equipment is 2 hours away! I just tried to call a local TruValue store but they're closed right now. Lowe's said they don't do it. Any ideas on who else might rent this pipe snake?

Look in Yellow Pages. You may have a regular tool rental outlet close by.

Thanks. Turns out I'm leaving right now for home depot to buy one. I hope the ones they have listed on line for $29 to $39 are halfway decent. I'll keep you posted!

N o one's laughing at you Sunny,
The reason the other sink filled up when you ran the disposal is that it acted like a centrifugal pump.
Milo nailed it when he told you that the horizontal line in the wall was clogged.
Let me pick it up from his #5.
You should now have the trap open. Send your snake up into the wall (see image). You will run into a bend about 8 inches in but once past that you only have 6 to 8 feet more to go. Pull the snake out, replace the trap assembly and fill a tub with hot water to flush out the rest of the Ka-Ka that may be remaining in the line.
Good luck and let us know how you made out. Tom

Hi Tom. Working on it now. Can't get past that f***in bend at 8 inches! Guess I'll just have to keep trying, huh?

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Originally Posted by sunny1019

Hi Tom. Working on it now. Can't get past that f***in bend at 8 inches!! Guess I'll just have to keep trying, huh?

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That may be the blockage itself. Keep working the snake. Try to move it around, different angles, push harder etc. It will eventually go...

The snake pipe I got was only $12 and has a plastic tube around the steel coil. I got this one instead of the one w/out the plastic tubing because: A. It was the only one (of the cheaper ones) that had the end to go inside an electric drill which I thought I would need since I don't have the strength of a man to use the manual one, B. thought it would be easiser to wipe the gunk off it, and C. Thought it would be easier on my hands while trying to push it through.

Do you think I should have gotten the kind w/out the plastic pipe around the coil? I didn't think it mattered, but maybe it does since I still can't get through that spot and have given up for the moment.


Hi Milo. Thanks for all the great advice so far. It's the middle of the night right now here and I'll be resuming this tomorrow evening after I get home from work. Can you please just answer me 3 questions so I can feel better about continuing this task that doesn't seem to be working?

1. Are you absolutey, positively, 100% sure the check valve is not the issue?

2. Do check valves wear out over time? And

3. Is a check valve 1 solid part or a movable part hooked to a solid part? (I keep picturing it like a flap that opens as water passes through and then closes.)

I will be seeing my friend who has the boyfriend that helped me tomorrow and I know she's going to ask me if I got a new check valve yet. I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about... especially since I'll be telling her in not so many words that he is wrong! :-)

PS- I guess I do have another question not related to this. What the heck do I click on leave you guys positive feedback? I don't see any "scales" that speedball1 was talking about either.

Goodmorning Sunny,
Milo's off line but allow me to answer your questions.

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Are you absolutey, positively, 100% sure the check valve is not the issue?

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I am absolutely, positively certain that in over 50 years in plumbing that I have never seen a check valve on ANY kitchen drain line. Where did that idea come from? Who told you that you had a check valve in your drain line?

Quote:

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. Is a check valve 1 solid part or a movable part hooked to a solid part? (I keep picturing it like a flap that opens as water passes through and then closes.)

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Let's put this check valve thingy to rest. Check valves will be found in your system if you're on a punp and on rare occasions you will find a 4" check valve outside your house on the sewer line that runs from your house to the street. And then only iof the city main keeps backing up into your house.
So enough with the check valves already! There is and never has been a check valve installed on a kitchen drain lime. You have a garden variety clog and as soon as you work around that pesky elbo and get a snake all the way down to the sanitary tee in the stack your clog will go bye-bye.
Crank the snake while pushing it past the bend, once past it all you'll have to put out is six more feet.


Good luck, Tom,

THanks Tom. I will not say the dirty word, ____ ____ ever again! :-) If you go back and read my very 1st paragraph on page 1, that's where I heard of the ____ ____. It was my friend's boyfriend that said it and I just wanted to know for sure that it wasn't the problem. Now I do.

I couldn't deal with trying to get past that elbow last night but I'll try again tonight. I can't put it off too much longer because I'm now doing my dishes in the bathroom sink which sucks. I'll write again as soon as I get the stupid thing unclogged. I sure hope I can put everything back together OK.

Thanks again & have a great day, Sunny

Sorry Sunny,
I answer so many posts I don't go back and read every one from the start.
Jus crank and push at the same tine and you'll work around the bend. Good luck, Ton