BWW Project 25-4 Downstairs Bathroom Sink Drain

BWW Project 25-4: Downstairs Bathroom Sink Drain

Cathy says that the sink drain in the downstairs bathroom is very slow.  She tried a round of opener in it and it didn't seem to help.  I thought that I could take the trap off and clean it out.  Seemed like the easiest thing to try first.  I was able to just barely get the trap unscrewed with bare hands.  But it was fairly clean.  It's high end stuff and did have a wooden pick, the kind you use for shish kebabs jammed down in there.  That's a clue!  The previous owner thought it was clogged, too and tried jamming something down in there and it broke off.  Removed that, and put the trap back on.  

Murphy's Law, of course.  The trap dripped no matter how I tightened it!  It always has to turn into a nightmare.  Now I'm going to Ace Hardware for some new seals for the trap connections.  I bought an assortment because I'm thinking that this kind of thing is going to be happening, either here or at daughter's old or new house.

I also picked up, for $14, an auger snake.  As long as I had the trap off, I gave a few tries at running the snake down and luckily punching through the clog.  No luck.  

8-footer

I put in new gaskets, tightened her up and ran some water in the sink.  It filled but did not drain.  The guest bathroom across the wall shares a common drain and water backed up into that sink too.  So the clog is down there a ways, 3 or 4 feet down.  After a while the water did go down, so now it's time again to load her up with liquid plumber and just wait for it to eat through the clog, wherever it is.

Did exactly that.  Cathy ran a few courses of her drain opener and jus when she was about to give up, I ran some hot water in and "whoosh" I could hear the clog going into the main line and everything is now working normal.,

I did notice there was a cleanout on the drain pipe in the basement.  I was about to open that next, but fortunately don't have to.