So heres the deal. A few months ago, my kitchen sink started to gurggle, glug..glug, whatever you want to call it while its draining and what seems like a lifetime after the sink is empty. I did your normal draino and the like at least 5 or 6 times in the last few months and it never helps. The water in the sink drains at a fairly normal rate, not real fast, but not slow either and it never backs up into the sink itself. I think, I can see some water down in the drain after the sink is empty and it starts glugging, but im not 100% sure. I've had the trap apart under the sink and its clean, I tried forcing water from the hose thru the drain, I ran a snake thru it and went under the house and opened the cap in the pipe which is about 6" or so away from the main sewer drain and its all clean. I can see the water run thru it just fine with the cap off. Heres the setup...I have city sewer but a well for my water. The bathroom toilet, sink and shower drains all work fine with no problems. All the drains from the sinks and stuff run to a main pipe under the house which goes underground to the main city line.The drain from the kitchen sink makes a 90 right under the floor joists and runs a good 30 feet before it hits the main sewer drain. In my front yard I do have a small grate about 4" x 4" which i'm assuming is a vent of some sort. When you run the water alot, the washing mashing or flush the toilet, you can here the water running thru this grate in the yard. The grate is not clear ( picture a miniature storm drain, thats what it looks like) it has leaves and dirt and whatnot in it. I have NEVER, in the 20 plus years we have owned this house, cleaned that grate out nor did I ever see anyone else clean it. My question is this...could the grate ( vent ) be causing the kitchen sink to glug? Why is it only the kitchen sink and not the rest of the house? Chinese water tourcher would be better than listening to this thing glugg for 5 to 10 minutes after the sink has drained. I have to shove a sponge in the drain to quiet it down.

Anyone have any Ideas? Its driving me mad and I cant take it anymore.

One last thing....unfortunately, dynamite is not an option ...............Yet


BREW

 

Not a plumber and never played one on TV.

Is your house a single floor or does it have an upstairs?

If it is single floor I would look for some sort of vent blockage. With the kitchen sink being the highest drain in the house it will act as the vent, and make the glugging sound. Most vents come to the roof of the house or somewhere considerably higher than the drains, so they will not overflow.

The vent or whatever in the front yard, won't do anything to alleviate your problem as it is at the wrong end.

Go to your basement or crawl space and look for a pipe going into your main drain that goes up through the house, that doesn't appear to go anywhere close a drain upstairs, and this will be most likely your vent. You could also go outside and look at the roof or under the eeves for a pipe or something coming out.

If all else fails, try some earplugs.

 

Well my wifes father and 4 brothers have a plumbing business. I built my own house and they plus me did the plumbing. I'd like to say I did learn something from them in the 30 years I've know them.

Well water has nothing to do with it. When your trap is installed you should always see water in it. The trap is for stopping the sewer gasses from backing up and not your wifes wedding ring!

I don't quite understand the layout you are trying to paint. Is the 30' below the crawl space clear? My house has a "cleanout" at that point instead of a straight 90. This grate you mention is something I never heard of but it is very likely a vent for the main sewer. You should run a snake through it because if it is exposed to the elements and has never been cleaned well then you can bet it is clogged. But everything should drain the same way if all your plumbing flows through that point.

There should also be a vent tied into your kitchen plumbing that exits through the roof. Look for a plastic vent around 1.5" in diameter that sticks out your roof somewhere in the vacinity above the kitchen. Those plastic vents that you see are for plumbing. Run your snake through them and make sure they are clear.

 

Not a plumber, etc. But when you look in the drain, you will see some water residual in the bottom of the trap. That's why it's called a trap, the water prevents foul smelling gas from backing up into your kitchen. As a side benefit, it traps rings and stuff from being immediately and permanently lost.

What he said above about a clogged vent.

 

You should have said something earlier. We could have discussed it over wings tonight at the C-View. Wednesdays are Wing night there!

 

Great thread Brew... you reminded me that I have a plumbing question too...

I'll start another thread rather than hijacking yours though...

 

I bet if he has enough beer and wings he could get a few of us to make a trip. Not sure we could help with anything except taking care of the beers and wings though.

 

NAH...hijack it man. We all might learn something.

BREW

 

Thanks guys. Let me try to answer some of the questions, The house is single floor with a crawl space. The main sewer pipe under the house is situated in the crawl space pretty much directly under the bathroom. The kitchen sink is on the opposite side of the house, hance the approx 30' run from the sink drain to the main drain pipe. The crawl space is clear and the kitchen drain pipe is totally exposed and unobstucted the entire run. After the house was built, the family room was added on to the back of the house. Its a poured concrete slab, so it has no crawl space, but there is a pipe in that room that runs up the wall and out thru the roof. If you can picture it, the pipe is mounted to what wouldhave been the back of the house before the family room was added. And now that I think of it, there is another pipe that runs up the side of the house just outside the bathroom. I know they are vents of some sort, but never really knew what for.


6T6CPE...I would've come down there but I was on a quest for a wall mount air compressor. Know where I can get one??

Shtr...come on down, plent of beer in the fridge and I guess after a few hours of that, the dynamite might work after all.


BREW

 

I had to disassemble my kitchen sink line New Years Eve @ 1600 to cure just this sort of thing. Of an inch and a half pipe I could only get a finger in the pipe, it was that clogged up.

I ended up running a snake from the pipe going into the wall (Iron) down under the house where I disconnected the pipe. I ran the snake all the way out and secured a small patch of cloth to it using multiple zip ties. Went back inside and pulled the cloth through. OMFG you can not imagine the crap that came out. To include half of a straw.


Anyway, if it's possible run a strong piece of rope out of the access point and back up into the sink. Secure a small (3" X 5") piece of cloth or smaller and pull it back into the house. You might be surprized to see what comes out. HTH

Check the vent for a clog first, before tearing it all apart though. LOL

 

Another vote for a vent clog of some sort. The vent on a drain is very important. Think of turning a 2 litre bottle of soda upside down and taking the cap off. It will gurgle and gurgle and take a relatively long time to drain. If you turn it upside down, cut a hole in the bottom of the bottle, then remove the cap, it will drain smoothly and quickly. I am no plumbing expert, but I have learned alot from 20+ years of trial and error! You may be able to find a vent of some sort (I think it is an air lock or some such thing) at Home Depot or Lowes that goes in under the sink that might help also. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

I would just build a new house...Its always easiest starting over new...haha

Heck i would even come build it for ya Tom

 

is it possible that there is some sort of vent at or under the sink?


BREW

 

Like i told you on msn...I think its lack of venting. Whether you have a vent pipe that is plugged or what but it sounds as if when you shut the water off the water pressure in the line goes down enough that its able to suck air through the sink making it gurgle only when the water goes down. That is my best guess with out coming out to check it out...

 

Well load that ski in the back of your truck and head on out. The fridge is full of beer


BREW