A slow kitchen sink is one of the most common plumbing problems in any home. You plunge it, it drains, and two weeks later the water is standing in the sink again. When a kitchen drain keeps clogging, the problem is not the opening you can see. It is a buildup further down the pipe that keeps catching food and grease.
Here is what causes repeat kitchen clogs, what you can do at home, and when it is time for a professional cleaning.
What builds up inside a kitchen drain
Grease and oil
Cooking grease is liquid when it is hot, so it seems harmless to pour down the drain. As it cools in the pipe, it turns soft and sticky and coats the inside wall. Each layer catches more food and soap. Over months, the opening gets smaller until water cannot get through.
Food scraps
Rice, pasta, coffee grounds, eggshells and vegetable peels stick to grease and pack together. Even with a garbage disposal, these scraps can settle in the pipe instead of washing away.
Soap scum and hard water
Soap reacts with the minerals in Hialeah’s hard water and leaves a film inside the pipe. That film gives grease and food something to grip.
Old pipe
Many Hialeah homes have cast iron drain lines under the slab. Over decades, the inside of cast iron becomes rough and scaled, which catches buildup much faster than a smooth pipe.
What to keep out of the kitchen drain
- Cooking grease, oil and fat: let it cool and put it in the trash
- Coffee grounds
- Rice, pasta and bread, which swell with water
- Eggshells and fibrous peels like celery and onion skins
- Paper towels and wipes
Simple habits that help
- Scrape plates into the trash before rinsing
- Run plenty of water while using the garbage disposal and for a few seconds after
- Use a sink strainer to catch scraps
- Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing them
Why chemical drain cleaners are not the answer
Store-bought drain cleaners can open a small channel near the top of the clog, but they rarely clear the pipe wall where the buildup sits. The clog comes back. They can also damage older pipes and are dangerous if they splash or sit in a pipe a plumber later has to open.
How a plumber clears a kitchen line
Cable cleaning
A drain cable, sometimes called a snake, is fed into the line to break up and pull out the clog. It works well for most single clogs and gets the drain flowing again.
Hydro jetting
When a line keeps clogging, hydro jetting is often the better fix. High-pressure water scrubs grease and scale off the whole pipe wall instead of opening a hole through the middle. The pipe is left close to its original size, so clogs take much longer to come back.
Camera inspection
If a drain clogs again soon after cleaning, a camera shows what is going on inside. A sag in the pipe, a broken section or roots can all cause repeat clogs, and those need a repair, not just a cleaning.
Our drain cleaning service uses the right tool for your pipe and tests the flow before we leave.
When the problem is bigger than the kitchen
If more than one drain is slow, or water comes up in a tub or shower when the dishwasher or washer drains, the blockage is probably in the main sewer line. That needs a different approach. See our sewer line repair service for how we find and fix main line problems.
A quick checklist
- Plunger does not help: call a plumber
- Same drain clogs every few weeks: ask about hydro jetting
- Several drains slow at once: check the main line
- Bad smell from the sink: buildup in the line or trap
- Water backing up into the other side of a double sink: a clog past the trap
A kitchen drain should not need a plunger every month. Call Hialeah FL Plumber, your plumber in Hialeah, FL, at (305) 555-0164, and we will clear the line and tell you what caused it.