Dear Community,

I have a sink in my bathroom which can't decide whether it wants to be clogged or not.

After running the water continuously for about a minute with the drain open, water starts to accumulate in the sink. When the depth of water is about two inches (still running the water at the same rate), the rate of drainage "magically" improves and the sink empties. 30 seconds later (still running the water), it starts to accumulate again.

Should I be looking in the drainpipes or the vent stack to solve this problem? Drainage does not appear to be a problem for the toilet and bath in the same bathroom.

Thanks in advance,
-Bob

Hi Bob,
Do you have a regular lavatory or a vessel sink? Regards, Tom

Hi Tom,

(sorry for the delay... my computer works about as reliably as my drains)

It's a regular lavatory.

Thanks,
-Bob

Hey Bob,
It sounds like you have a partial blockage in the lateral drain line in the wall
Remove the "J" bend from the trap and send a snake up into the wall.
You will run into a bend about 8 inches in but once past that all you'll have to put out is 6 or 7 feet more. Test with a large pan of boiling water. Good luck, Tom

Thanks Tom!

I'll give that a try this weekend and will let you know how it turns out.

-Bob