Any plumbers in the house? (or just good DIYers?)

[Lisa0825]

I have a plumbing problem... the toilet and tub both won't drain. After reading online at askaplumber.com, I decided to try to snake the tub. The snake went through what seemed like the blockage, and now the damn thing won't come out.

Did I just make my problem worse? I am afraid I am going to totally break something if I keep wrestling with it.

:banghead:

[HopeHoops]

1. Time to place the dreaded call.

The plumber will show up at the door - "That will be 79.95, will that be Visa or MasterCard? Now, what's your problem?"

"There's no price on the bill!"

"Oh, there WILL be! (demonic laugh)"

[Lisa0825]

18. I know better than to even try to call tonight....

This will wait a couple days.

I have a good referral, so hopefully he won't be evil. LOL

[HopeHoops]

22. When you least expect it - expect it.

"No! Don't go IN there!"

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

"Dude, like, are you gonna smoke that joint or what?"

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. That's MY plumber!!!!!

He AlWAYS says at the end of the job: "Well, it came to a bit more than I figured".
I have never owned such expensive pipes before.

[rug]

2. Everybody wants a plumber on Christmas Eve.

I have no idea what to do. If it was me, I'd go to a motel until Monday.

[Lisa0825]

3. I am barely going to be home for a couple days anyway, so

I plan to wait until after the holidays.

[Curmudgeoness]

4. Are you trying to just pull the snake out, or are you doing it

with a rotating motion? You are supposed to rotate it as you feed it in and also as you get it out. If you are already doing this, I'm with the "get a motel room" till Monday.

[Lisa0825]

5. I have tried it both ways.

I am going to try it again in a little bit. It was actually pretty tiring.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Ain't that the truth. Hard work. And you really do have to put

a lot of muscle into it when you attempt the rotation. It makes you appreciate the work plumbers have to do. I do wish you luck and hope it works. How embarrassing to have to call a plumber to get a snake out of the drain!

[Paper Roses]

7. Post this in the DIY and Home Improvement Group

all kinds of plumbing advice given there. More readers will see it.

[Lisa0825]

10. I thought about that, but that group doesn't get a lot of traffic, and I was hoping for some quick

advice. I figured I'd have more chance of this being seen quickly here. If I can't get it done tonight, I will post there to see if there are any further tips before calling the plumber Monday.

[Kali]

8. go on further and then tug back on it

when you think you went through a clog, how much snake was actually in the drain? did it start to work better then - did water go on down? is the toilet working now?

[Lisa0825]

9. UPDATE: Got the snake out, but the pipe's still clogged.

I did pull out some gunk though, but not enough I guess.

The drill has to recharge, so I can't try again for a while. But at least I haven't made things worse by getting it stuck, as I was was worried about.

*sigh*

[BlueJazz]

11. Take a gallon of Bleach...pour down drain...wait 1 hour. Crap dissolved

[struggle4progress]

13. Don't mix bleach in your pipes with standard cleaners

You may give yourself a nice dose of chlorine gas, as seen in WWI

[Lisa0825]

17. Yeah, I read about that a long time ago. Before I knew that,

I had done that before! Scary how easy it would be to poison oneself!!!

[struggle4progress]

12. Sewer or septic?

If sewer:
are there nearby houses or not?
are you uphill or downhill from the treatment plant -- do you know if there's a pumping station along the line?
and do you have weeping willows or other trees known to invade sewer lines nearby?
also do you have a capped access point to the sewer line?

if you think it's roots and have a capped access point, you could remove the cap and try snaking through that -- but if the capped access is lower than your blocked toilet/tub, and if the plug of whatever is lower than your capped access, sewage may spew all over you when you remove the cap

My first guess might be a hair or grease plug in the line. In my experience, a plunger often works for that, and I'd persistently try using a plunger in the toilet first: put the plunger in, seat it, then push down quickly, to try to force water down; pause; repeat for ten or fifteen minutes

If plunging didn't work, and I wasn't going to snake anymore, another option is lye or a lye-based liquid product: these can work well but should be used in conjunction with skin and eye protection: you can hurt yourself badly and permanently if you're careless; the idea is to pour drano or a concentrated lye solution into a drain and let it sit a while (maybe several hours). Don't remove capped access points after adding lye, if you don't know what you're doing. I generally don't plunge after adding lye so I don't spatter lye on myself. I wouldn't snake after adding lye either, if I didn't really know what I was doing. And if you add lye and later call a plumber, please do the guy a favor and tell him you poured in drano or lye or whatever. The way to use the lye solution or whatever is to pour lots of it into drains and wait and wait. It's heavier than water so it will make it's way down. You might start by pouring a gallon into the bathroom sink (after removing the stopper): that way you wouldn't have a bathtub and toilet full of lye; the plug is probably below where the sink drainpipe joins the common pipe for the bathtub and toilet (though that's not absolutely necessarily so)

[Lisa0825]

15. Thanks..

are there nearby houses or not? YES

are you uphill or downhill from the treatment plant -- do you know if there's a pumping station along the line? I HAVE NO IDEA

and do you have weeping willows or other trees known to invade sewer lines nearby? NO WILLOWS. TREES ONLY ALONG THE FENCE LINE AND THE LINE RUNS RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE BACKYARD, BUT SEVERAL YEARS AGO A PLUMBER SAID HE DID SNAKE OUT SOME ROOTS, WHICH SURPRISED ME.

also do you have a capped access point to the sewer line? YES THERE IS A CAP OUTSIDE. I DIDN'T WANT TO TRY MESSING WITH THAT UNLESS NOTHING ELSE HAD WORKED.

Prior to snaking, I had tried plunging, and I have already gone through several tries with Liquid Plumber with no luck. But I have rinsed the tub out a lot since then, letting it drain over several hours each time.

[struggle4progress]

19. If the tub is draining slowly, I'd keep up the liquid plumber treatments

[Kaleva]

14. since neither the toilet and tub don't drain....

the blockage is either past the point where the toilet sewer line and tub drain join together or right at that joint. Apparently the bathroom sink drains just fine so find out where that ties into the common bathroom sewer line. The blockage will be before where the sink drain ties in.

[Lisa0825]

16. Yeah, that is what I figured.... though I don't now how I would find out.

Anyway, I am going to give it one more try tonight, and then leave it up to the plumber.

[Kaleva]

20. You probably have an 1 1/2 or 2 inch line from the tub.

That ties into either a 3 or 4 inch line from the toilet. Your main blockage most likely then is in the 3 or 4 inch line. I'd run a snake down the toilet rather then trying thru the tub. Plunging the toilet may work if you seal off the tub drain and tub overflow as best as you can.

[Lisa0825]

21. Thanks. That s what I was going to try after the re-charge.

I am going to check it out now and see if it is ready. Wish me luck!

[Kaleva]

23. My wife is in bed ill so I'll most likely be here all evening. Good Luck!

[Lisa0825]

24. No luck... and now the snake is stuck in the toilet....

and I pulled and pulled until I can now barely type because my arms are like spaghetti.

Nothing left now but to call the plumber Monday :-(

But thanks everyone for the help and suggestions.

[dimbear]

25. I second that. And to get really serious with the snake, start

by taking out the toilet. It's not so hard to do, and gives you a free hand to get serious with the pipe.

[Lisa0825]

27. Taking out the toilet is way beyond my self-assessed capabilities....

I don't even know why I tried to snake it myself. I have never been successful at trying to fix things myself. Anything more challenging than this will just be money in a plumber's pocket, and I will happily pay it. LOL

But thanks for the misplaced faith you had in my abilities. I'll take it as a compliment. LOL! :pals:

[Hassin Bin Sober]

26. Try this site if you are still playing with it ...

Several pros on the site who will probably tell you to call a plumber but they may have some advice in the mean time.

Excellent place for plumbing questions:

http://www.plbg.com/forum/list.php?1

[Lisa0825]

28. Thanks! I will bookmark for future reference.

For now, I am accepting defeat. But I am sure another day will come when I will need this site.

:hurts:

[Orrex]

29. Try megadoses of Vitamin D

[Lisa0825]

37. Why didn't I think of that???

D works for everything!!!

[Honeycombe8]

31. This happened to me a few years ago.

I've read your various posts for your situation.

1. First, I see that you snaked your toilet. I wouldn't have done that. The snake is metal and will scratch the china of your toilet bowl.

2. I thought I'd gotten my snake caught down drains before. As you've seen, they WILL come out, even when you think they're stuck. I had to rest my arms, and then start again. It seemed to take way longer to revolve it out than it did to get it in. Seems like it gets caught at a certain turn, and I'd have to turn it and turn it and turn it, until finally it would get past that turn, and come out a ways, and then get "caught" at the next turn. But rest assured, if it goes down there, it will come up. It won't get caught in a clog, since it's metal and clogs are weaker stuff.

3. By the time a tub backs up, the main line has been backing up for some time until it got to the point that it was noticeable in the tub. When that happened to me, from that point forward, it got worse much faster.

4. My problem was that the main line had to be rotor rootered out through that cap you said you have in your yard. It's not a big deal, really. Just a matter of getting the plumber out there to do it, and as long as he knows what the problem is, it shouldn't take that long. For me, I didn't have a cap, so the plumber first had to determine where the backup was (which bathroom), where the main line was, and then CREATE an opening and cap for him to use to rotor rooter.

5. My sinks didn't back up, either, just like yours. It was the both tubs and the toilets.

6. Even if the clog is close to the house, before where the sink lines tie in, it probably will be easier for the plumber just to rotor rooter through the cap outside. He can go in both directions...under the house, and out down the yard, w/o having to mess with snakes through drains, etc.

7. Finally...maybe I shouldn't admit this....BUT...it was a couple of days before the plumber could come out. So I used the bathroom in my yard. I have a place on the side of my house that is not visible by any neighbors. Then I was at work at other times. If you have to do #2...well, I used to do some primitive camping. What people in the woods do is...they dig a hole and use the bathroom in it, then fill up the hole. Voila. (I couldn't stay at a hotel because I had a sick pet at the time..there was a kennel problem, plus with my long work hours...I just decided to use the bathroom at work and in my yard. It was unpleasant, but not a big deal. It was only a couple of days, and it wasn't cold.

[Lisa0825]

33. Re: 7) LOL

During the workdays I was able to time #2 right for work, and I had plans to visit friends for the weekend. I also planned ahead just in case... I thought, "What would be open on a holiday weekend if nature calls" and then I thougt of the hospital 5 minutes away. I mean, if THAT is not an emergency, then what is, right??? LOL

[Honeycombe8]

38. Good for you! Human ingenuity and creativity works every time!

It's amazing what we can deal with, when we have to. I keep a close eye on my drains, now, so that it never gets that bad again. (I think I had a tree root problem. It was a trash tree, anyway, close to the main line, which ran down the middle of my back yard; it had a tendency to get webworms & stuff, so I just had it cut down. I'd planted a tree nearby a few years ago, anticipating that the trash tree would have to be cut down one day. So there are no longer any trees close to the main line.)

[jmowreader]

32. Did they both stop draining at the same time?

Next question: is anything else in the house not draining?

If a lot of things are stopped up at the same time, try finding the "cleanout" in the drain system that leads to the sewer and snake that.

[Lisa0825]

34. They stopped very suddenly, and nothing else is stopped.

It actually happened after a load of sheets and a blanket, so I thought cat hair and blanket fuzz was the problem, but the washer and kitchen sink still work fine. :shurg:

My snake is still stuck in the toilet, and I am leaving it for the plumber Monday.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

35. A plumber's helper - the plunger

Fill the tub, open the drain, start plunging. Over and over. Much elbow grease.

And, merry christmas.

:hi:

[whistler162]

36. Remeber not to shine the flashlight around to much.....

gets you caught every time.

Also helps if Mr. Gump isn't in the same hotel.

[Lisa0825]

39. I finally have a fully functioning bathroom again!

And I still have a few bucks left in the bank.

Man, they really had work to get the snake un-stuck. I did quite a job on it! The clog was in the main sewer line. Allis well now. The house reeks of bleach after the scrubbing I just gave the tub. The kitties have started emerging from their hiding places, and I have poured myself a big glass of wine.

I officially swear-off of any DIY repair attempts ever again.

[some guy]

40. Congratulations!

You certainly deserve the wine!

:toast: