Household Drain Clogs - Fixes and Prevention

how can we get rid of rust in our water pipes?will Bleach work?

Sandy,
You may need to replace the pipes if the rust is caused by them. It is not a prudent thing to drink chlorine bleach.

Chrolrine Bleach and metal don't mix to well, caustic soda and a little bit of water normally works pretty well.

I just had my bathroom completely renovated and the contractors poured grout down my kitchen sink, which is next to the bathroom. Now when running the kitchen sink or using the washer, it all backs up into the tub. Is there anything to disolve the grout in the drains? I have had to plumbers try to unclog and they tell me I have to dig up the floors to get to the pipes. please help!! Thanks.

That is just plain negligence and stupidity on the contractors part.. I would talk to a lawyer about recovering the cost of repairs etc.. Grout is a form of concrete, it won't dissolve..Good Luck

Can one find a drain snake small enough to work on unclogging a tub drain? Also, if one uses a plunger to unclog a tub drain, by removing the stopper attached to the overflow lever, would there be enough downward water pressure from the plunger to force the blockage to move? Why not leave the drain open (i.e the tub stopper remains in the open position)? Thanks!

Why do the metal plug holes in my sink and bathtub rust so easily and how can I clean them. Could it be because there is rust in the water and if so, is this a health problem? Thanks.

Long running problem with toilet. Back to back bathrooms & toilets. Both have damp patches in tile grout. One very bad & now floor coming unstuck. toilet bowl has been replaced - no effect. Told it could be damp/leek in underfloor heating. But sometimes smell of urine when I put on the heating makes me think otherwise. Opposite toilet not always good at flushing away debris. Builders bankrupt, developers doing things on the cheap & slowly. Any help please !! I have money problems so need advice before taking them on.

I am new to home ownership and my new home is built on clay soil and has a septic system. Can you help with suggestions on care of the septic system to minimize future clogs, biofilms, hardpan soil, etc. How often should I have the tank cleaned out? will toilet tablet cleaners with chlorine harm the septic or leach bed?

my two year old put toilet paper in the tub filled with water and the whole thing just got plugged what do i do?

Sir,

I've got to thank you for your help. I've been fighting a clogged drain in my bathtub for weeks and your method of removing the control rod and then plugging the overflow before I used the plunger made the difference. It drains very well now. THANK YOU!!!

Is it always possible to remove and replace a kitchen sink's draining orifice, by separating that above from that underneath? I need to replace a grotty-looking sink outlet and there does not appear to be any logical means of separation. In other words, there does not appear to exist the facility for unscrewing one from the other.

These are great tips for preventing clogged drains. I have been having issues with drains at my new apartment and have been looking for a solution other than continually using Drain-O :) I found a product called <a href="http://www.spinflush.com">spinflush</a> that is supposed to prevent clogged drains. It was cheap so I tried it out and have been really pleased with the results.
If anyone else has the same problem I had I would recommend trying out SpinFlush I haven't had to buy another bottle of Drain-o since I put it into my sink

Evening folks. Have a wee problem here that I hope can be resolved through this site. It seems that the cast iron main drain for my parents' kitchen sink has clogged, and they are completely stumped as to what to do. They strongly believe the clog is over the cistern in their basement, as water is leaking out at a steady rate in that area. The problem is, the suspected clog area is over 20' to 30' of pipe away from the kitchen sink trap access. SO, long story short, its a bit of a sticky situation. They tell me they have tried chemical cleaners, a pipe snake, compressed air, etc to no avail. Any suggestions? I'm not a plumber by any means, so anything of interest would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, have tried the bleach and a bio product from a plumber to keep yuk from building up. Still have this problem - when my washer dumps water - or when I empty the full tub - I hear 'blub, blub' from the kitchen sink and smell nasty things. The lines are new (3 yrs),PVC and I seem to have a vent line attached appropriately. I do bake and wash out bowls with some yeasty residue in them. Pretty frequently. Which is why I use the bleach. Problem was not evident when I moved in 3 yrs ago. Any ideas?

Toilet no longer flushes completely. No new fixtures or additions. Used to here a sucking sound in the shower drain when the toilet was flushed but no more. Toilet fill valve replaced. Tank empties fully. Water swirls in bowl but does not fully pull stuff down. Second floor toilet. Could this be a vent problem? or a clog?

We accidentally ran a scratch pad/brillo pad thru the garbage disposal stopping up plumbing under basement floor. I snaked and found pieces of evidence. Is there any chemical agent to help remove/dissolve any remainder. Flushed w/hot running water as roto was running and fed. Three passes to open. Not sure all is cleared.

I recently had my shower tiled and I believe there is grout plugging the drain. I read the post by Tom, does anyone know how to fix this problem? A snake isn't strong enough to break it up, and the tile guy won't admit to his mistake

I live in an old building about 30 yrs. I've had a toilet clogs in the
past 11yrs. I've been renting here.
Just recently, My toilet had overflowed completely bringing water
into the bedroom and living room areas, Maintenance people repaired it
and still there is a little leakage
next to the valve to open and close the water, it only leaks after a flush
I was so surprised that the toilet could just gush water out itself like
that with no warning--toilet was fine
2 hours before the overflow. I needed to even bail out water into
the bathtub. Maintenance only found
a small piece of cotton tissue that
was already soaked thru looking like
it certainly could pass through the
water pipes. Someone advised me that it could be the main line that
got clogged and anyone's toilet could be overflowed. How often
should the main line be maintained
for maintenance purposes? This is
a 23 floor apt. bldg. all designed
with 1 & 2 bdrms. I was told by my
landlord that the water from my apt.
leaked down 3 apts. below me and one
office on the ground floor. Is this
possible? I appreciate any advice you can share with me. Thanks so much.

The sink in the kitchen fills up with water and wont go down the drain i have to take my hand and push the water to the drain in order for it to go down what could be the problem and how could i fix it ?

Ashley,

If you have to push the water to the drain, sounds like the sink is not properly mounted. The drain is normally the lowest part of the sink. If your drain isn't the lowest spot, the sink is not installed properly. It is tilting the wrong way.

I had chronic kitchen sink problems in my 1920's row house. Turned out old metal clean out in the basement had just gone almost solid with ancient gunk. I cut the in and out pipes several inches from the clean-out, replaced it with PVC and used rubber couplings to attache the new clean-out to the old pipes. No problems since.

how do I get clogged hair from my bathroom bathtub

When we use the washing machine the water drains into the shower in a nearby bathroom. Also, it seems that toilet waste is also coming up in the shower.But the toilet works fine and only backups when we use the shower. Can you suggest an easy fix.