How can I unclog my pipes? We have 2 bathrooms on one side of the house and the washing machine and kitchen on the other. We have a cat and use pine litter. I think the pine litter causes the clog. Both bathrooms are clogged, but the kitchen seems to be fine. We have a snake, but I have a hard time getting it past the bend in the pipes. We had 2 different clogs in the last few months removed by a plumber. The first was hair, the second a paper towel. Is that normal? I have been flushing some pine litter before with no problems. Thanks for any advice.
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You most likely have a bad 'bend' (too sharp) in your line that is causing your problems and that is why the snake will not work on the bend.
Once you get this problem solved, I would recommend not flushing anything but regular toilet paper or you will probably have the same trouble again.
Also, if you notice the flush seems to be slowing down you should try to unclog it at that time - before it stops up completely.
Sometimes for a slow toilet you can double flush it and the extra force of water will move the glob out of the way. You do this by flushing one time and as soon as the tank fills flush again.
There are some things you can try before you call a plumber but take your time and give each method time to work.
A plunger will sometimes work if used properly.
There are several instructional videos on YouTube so check those out unless you have already given this a good work out.
Give the following method a lot of thought before trying and be sure to be very careful with boiling water (have a clear path) and pour slowly.
Boiling water will sometimes work wonders. Empty most of the water from your commode and pour about 2/3's of a kettle of boiling water in the reservoir. Wait about 10 minutes and then flush. You can do this a second time if it even seems like it is helping.
There are other methods but this link has full instructions on each method so please check it out and decide if any will work for you.
The only true solution may be too expensive to change as plumbers charge a lot of money to find sewerage pipes and make any changes so you may have to live with being very careful with what you flush and flush more often.
Remove u trap empty any foreign matter reattach and run water to see how its draining if still not draining right use plunger then run water to see, if still not draining then buy some cheap drain declogger pour entire contents and allow to sit 45 minutes,boil big pot of water while waiting after 45 minutes run water to check draining process if still not clear pour pot of hot water directly down drain and plunge a few times when you pull up the plunger it should clear the drain. Always wipe out any cat litter stuck in litter box before rinsing out and use a screen over drain for catching hair and anything that could clog drain, never flush anything other than t.p. down toilet. Paper towels and napkins are not made to be flushed they will clog up your drain system!
What kind of drainer should I use? I read that draino and many others are bad for the pipes. How about sulfuric acid or lye? Or us there an organic one that is strong enough? And yes I figured it by now not to add anything else into the pipes. Thanks
One of my sons recently cleaned a litter box in the bathtub and we got a clog at the p-trap. My husband finally went into the crawlspace and cut the PVC pipe before and after the trap to remove the clog. He used another piece of PVC pipe and a connector to repair it again. It worked perfectly. The kitty litter was hardened together like cement, with a fair amount of hair in the clog. I don't think any chemicals would have removed it without damaging the pipes. This might be what you need to do to fix it.
Good luck!
Flushing the pine litter is a no no! It cost you money before and now it is time for a new method.You may need pipe cleaner and your snake to help it go along.Or, a professional!
Never flush anything besides toilet paper. Some toilets have narrow passageways, causing clogs. We had a stopped up toilet often until we replaced ours.
First off the clogs from paper towels or even hair is the result of roots or something in the pipes that causes this issue. My daughter lives in an older home where there are 2 bathrooms on the opposite side of the home and the kitchen has the washer in it. She gets clogs all the time from the toilet paper and the plumber has told her that one of the trees in the yard needs to be removed to correct this problem.
Wood swells when it's soaked and can easily get trapped in plumbing fixtures. There's no plumbing fixtures I know of that supports a flush job of such material.
You can buy screen traps that fit in sink drains to prevent hair/food clogs and other materials that can clog a drain. Just empty in the garbage can and put back in the sink/tub drains.
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