Sink Clog

lilargie · Jul 16, 2014

I'm having an issue with my kitchen sink. I put meatballs and some cooked spagetti in the drain thru garbage disposal (yes, I know, stupid), and it grinded fine but when I turned the disposal off, the water basically whirlpooled and splashed back up. The disposal is not jammed but water won't drain. If I run the sink it takes very little time for the water to stop going down so I would imagine clog not far at all. Took off cap for trap and let water run out - snaked up thru pipe probably 15 feet and still clogged.

Meet some resistance w/snake but hard to tell if pipe bends behind wall or whatever. Cannot run hot water and let it sit because what happens is it fills in the garbage disposal and the disposal just starts dripping out water under the cabinet. This made me think the clog was within the disposal side even though its spinning and grinding properly. However, if I take the cap off the trap and run the water thru the sink, it comes thru disposal fine and out the trap hole. So that must mean clog is in pipe and not disposal, correct? Wanted to avoid having to call a plumber but not sure what to do. Advice?

havasu · Jul 16, 2014

It has nothing to do with your disposal. You need to get a snake longer than 15' to clear the clog. It is possible you have root intrusion and unless you know exactly what you are doing, it may be money better spent to get a professional to help you.

lilargie · Jul 16, 2014

What would make you think that as opposed to it having to do with what I put down the drain considering it happened directly after putting down like 8 whole meatballs and pasta?

lilargie · Jul 16, 2014

In case it helps I'd add that no other sinks, bath, toilet, etc. are backing up and I've not even had a slow drain prior to this.

My snake is a 25 footer, but I was having some resistance w/it. Like I said though, not sure if it is because of pipe bending or what.

journeyman · Jul 16, 2014

there is a tee in wall. end of snake needs to have a little bend on it so it will go down drain. if disposal was clogged then the other side of sink would drain. you clog is not to far. and it is possible you might be running snake up vent. take pipe apart and shine a flashlight in drain to make sure snake is going down. if you have a clean out on outside of house behind kitchen sink pull cap off and see if line is clogged inside or outside. this is the best place to snake from if clogg is down the line. if disposal is leaking water it might be time for a new one.