One of the most common plumbing problems that a homeowner will face is a slow draining bathroom sink. Here is Don Kennedy of Promaster Home Repair & Handyman of Cincinatti showing how to fix a clogged or slow bathroom sink.
Transcript for how to fix a slow draining bathroom sink:
Hi Don Kennedy with Promaster Home
Repair and Handyman of Cincinnati as
part of our ongoing how-to series today
we want to take a look at how to fix a
slow draining bathroom sink. You know,
many of us have had this problem one
time or another. We go to wash our hands
or brush our teeth and the sink just
simply fills up with water because the
drain doesn’t seem to want to do its job.
Now this is a job that most homeowners
can fix on their own it simply involves
getting underneath the sink
cleaning out the p-trap and pop up plug
and I’m going to show you how to do that
next. So join me as we climb under the
sink together and we take a look at the
plumbing that’s underneath your bathroom
sink. Here you can see what’s called the
p-trap. It’s kind of shaped like the
letter P hence the name and this is
where a lot of hair and other debris
gets stuck and backs up the drain. All
right, here we are underneath the sink. I
know it’s a little tight with both of us
in here together but bear with me this
won’t take long at all. It’s pretty quick
to clean one of these P traps out and
get all the junk that’s inside there out
of there so our drains moving again. All
you’re going to need is a set of channel
lock pliers like this. They’re big giant
ones that kind of expand and contract
like that and if you don’t have a bucket
just use an old Tupperware bin like this.
You don’t tell your wife. You can just
wash it out later fellas and she won’t
even know you used it. Okay, so all we
need to do is take off this collar here.
I’m just gonna unscrew it. Just be gentle.
It is plastic so you know it can scratch.
So you just gently unscrew this nut here
and then there’s one more on the back
side. Don’t forget that one.
And see some that water is already
coming out. Just kind of let it drain now.
While we’re letting it drain this is a
good time to show you why they designed
this what’s called a p-trap to work this
way. There’s always water in the bottom
of these traps and what that does is
that creates an a barrier of air between
your drain and your sink that way all
those nasty sewer gases can’t come back
up into the house. And you’ll notice
sometimes if you haven’t been at home
for quite some time or haven’t used a
sink for a really long time you’ll
you’ll notice that foul foul
sewer smell coming from that sink is
probably because this pea trap is
dried out. Okay, looks like all the water
has drained out of that. We’ll just
finish unscrewing both of these nuts a
little more water will come out.
It’s okay
and should slide right out
now there’s a little bit of nasty stuff
and they’re not too bad. It looks pretty
clear but looks like we got a hairball
in there. So that
I won’t gross you out I’ll just carefully
remove it and throw it away and it
should loosen this drain right up. You
know I told you I wasn’t going to gross
you out with this but it’s just too good.
I got to share it with you. Yeah, it’s not
so bad. I don’t know if you can see in
there. You can see some of that is all
sludged up and blocked. That’s what’s
causing our drain problems so okay
that’s enough I won’t gross you, just
had to share. All right, the second area
where these things get gummed up is in
this area called the pop-up. I don’t know
if you can see that right here and right
next to it is a nut that allows you to
take that thing off. You know there’s
that thing on your faucet that you can
pull up and down and makes the pop-up go
up and down that’s what’s attached to
this rod here. Of course that mechanism
that’s in there provides an obstruction
for hair and all sorts of other stuff to
get caught in. So, I can’t really hold the
camera here and show you but I’m gonna
disassemble this and show you you know
it’s important to clean this part out as
well. All right, I don’t know if you can
see that, but you can see as I pull that
rod out it’s got a bunch of sludge and
junk on it. So guess I won’t gross you
out any more but we’re gonna go and
clean that whole mechanism out
thoroughly and then reassemble. All right,
now comes the fun part where we get to
check our work. See how the drain works
now
and it drains quickly. Don’t forget to
check the bottom side of your piping as
you’re running some water to make sure
you don’t have any leaks. So I’m running
the water above and I’m just gonna feel
around all of these joints and make sure
there is no water no dampness coming out.
You know while you’re down here too you
might want to check these supply valves
make sure they’re still loose. Looking
good that they’re not leaking or there’s
any corrosion on there. Failure to change
these things out results in a ton of
water damage which guys like us get to
fix later and that gets costly. Well,
thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed
this video and found it informative. If
you’d like more information about home
repair or our company and how we can
help you visit us online at
mastermylist.com. If you’re in the
Cincinnati area have a question for us
you can reach us at five one three seven
two four zero five three nine and as
always we’d love to be your friend on
Facebook keyword Promaster Craftsman.
If you’re not in Cincinnati and are looking for a certified plumber near you, give us a call at 877-510-4860.
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