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Plumbing Help
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We have a very slow draining bathroom sink, but it's finicky. I say this because in the evening everything seems fine with water running for 5 minutes. In the morning, water builds up in the sink and it takes about 1/2 hour to drain out. Last night, I used the Liquid Plumr Foam Snake formula as directed. Everything seemed fine as I ran water for a good 10 minutes with no issues. Now, this morning, we are back to A

Any suggestions?

I am about to call the plumber, but just want to make sure I am not missing anything here. I am not about to go tearing out pipes myself. :-)


EDIT: I am residing on the first floor of a 2-story condo complex of 8 units (4 units per floor) if that helps.


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"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
Last edited by: jedi_tri_guy: Jul 27, 10 9:00
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Re: Plumbing Help [jedi_tri_guy] [ In reply to ]
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It may not be vented properly. You can install a studor vent with materials from Home Depot. Not hard to do.
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Re: Plumbing Help [bighorsecreek] [ In reply to ]
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Just got done watching a lengthy video about the studor apparatus. Sounds like this would help. I just hope there's enough room under the sink/cabinet and I won't have to pull it out and tear into drywall.


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"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
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Re: Plumbing Help [jedi_tri_guy] [ In reply to ]
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T off of the drain pipe just under the sink. Make certain that the T is above the S trap and is low enough to allow for the Studer. The Studer then goes on the pipe that is Ted off the main drain. If there is room under the sink, the installation is easy.



EDIT: You may need to lower the S trap. If you can work on your bike, you can do this.
Last edited by: bighorsecreek: Jul 27, 10 10:00
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Re: Plumbing Help [bighorsecreek] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for this! I just got done tuning my bike, for what's that worth, so let's see if you are right.

I just learned that the condo unit opposite of me is experiencing the same problems and they already have a plumber on site. He ran my sink and there was a plumbing reaction on my neighbor's side, so that confirms that our issues are connected. He's going to try to fix things over there. In the meantime, I'll see if I can get any free tips from him as well. Even if he is able to correct the problem, I'll get his 0.02 on adding a studor vent, but I guess it would depend on what he found is the root cause.


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"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
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Re: Plumbing Help [jedi_tri_guy] [ In reply to ]
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If you are in a condo, your plumbing is probably attached to your neighbor's. If this has been a problem since the condos were built, I would guess it is a venting issue, If it is a problem that started recently the problem is more likely to be some type of obstruction.
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Re: Plumbing Help [bighorsecreek] [ In reply to ]
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It was definitely an obstruction. The plumber pulled out a lot of gunk, and he said that adding a studor vent wouldn't have helped things. He didn't rule out adding one, but suggested at a later time to revisit the question if the problem is reoccuring. I'll be keeping an eye on things (while all this is fresh in my mind) to see if the drainage shows a hint of slowing down.

Do you think it would be worthwhile to do a monthly or bi-monthly Liquid Plumr/Drano maintenance on this?


=====================================
"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
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Re: Plumbing Help [jedi_tri_guy] [ In reply to ]
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That shouldn't be necessary. Was the gunk in your drain or the neighbors? The combination of hair and soap makes for a good plug!
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Re: Plumbing Help [bighorsecreek] [ In reply to ]
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The plumber said it was on my neighbor's side. Before he told me that, I was thinking about sharing the fees, but not so much given that tidbit. :-)


=====================================
"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
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Re: Plumbing Help [jedi_tri_guy] [ In reply to ]
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Daughters with long hair?



unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothings going to get better. its not.
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Re: Plumbing Help [The Lorax] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Daughters with long hair?


Funny you mention that. Yes, they have two teenage daughters though I am not discounting their mischievous son (he's cool as far as I can tell).



=====================================
"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
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Re: Plumbing Help [jedi_tri_guy] [ In reply to ]
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I find it odd that it would consistently block in the morning and not in the evening. That in and of itself would be reason enough for me to suspect it was something to do with the entire building rather than just your apartment or the plumbing with in.

If it were a vent issue I'd expect it to not vent properly all the time. On top of that typically venting doesn't cause slow draining as much as a "Blooomp, Blooomp, blooomp" sound as it drains as the air has to escape up the pipes and out the drain of the sink.

If I had to take a wild guess I'd say there is some sort of bottle neck in the system of the entire building. More than likely there is alot of water usage going on in the AM with everyone taking showers etc. That would overwhelm the bottle neck and likely cause the entire building to drain slowly. Ask your neighbors if they are having any problems.

It could definitely be a vent or local drain problem as anything is possible, but it seems very odd that it would happen at one time and not another.

~Matt
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Re: Plumbing Help [MJuric] [ In reply to ]
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Very good points I'll continue to monitor morning and evening drainage to see if the pattern remains, as well as ask inquire with the neighbors.


=====================================
"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
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Re: Plumbing Help [MJuric] [ In reply to ]
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MJuric wrote:
I find it odd that it would consistently block in the morning and not in the evening. That in and of itself would be reason enough for me to suspect it was something to do with the entire building rather than just your apartment or the plumbing with in.

If it were a vent issue I'd expect it to not vent properly all the time. On top of that typically venting doesn't cause slow draining as much as a "Blooomp, Blooomp, blooomp" sound as it drains as the air has to escape up the pipes and out the drain of the sink.

If I had to take a wild guess I'd say there is some sort of bottle neck in the system of the entire building. More than likely there is alot of water usage going on in the AM with everyone taking showers etc. That would overwhelm the bottle neck and likely cause the entire building to drain slowly. Ask your neighbors if they are having any problems.

It could definitely be a vent or local drain problem as anything is possible, but it seems very odd that it would happen at one time and not another.

~Matt

Not really odd. In general, there is a lot more water usage in the AM. it takes a lot of sink running to fill a 4" drain.

To the OP - use lye let sit overnight
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Re: Plumbing Help [bighorsecreek] [ In reply to ]
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bighorsecreek wrote:
It may not be vented properly. You can install a studor vent with materials from Home Depot. Not hard to do.

Thank you for posting! I believe you have just answered my slow-draining pedestal sink question! Home Depot is on my to-do list!

DFL > DNF > DNS
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Re: Plumbing Help [CW in NH] [ In reply to ]
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It's been a little more than 6 years. It's highly likely it's drained by now.






Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/
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