Slow and Clogged Drains in Phoenix

Where the clog usually is

Every sink, tub and shower has a trap under it, the U-shaped bend in the pipe. The trap holds a little water so sewer gas can't come up into the house. It's also where most clogs form, because it's the first place the flow slows down.

• Bathroom sinks clog at the pop-up stopper, where hair and soap wrap around the pivot rod. The stopper comes out, the gunk comes with it, and the drain runs again.
• Showers and tubs clog with hair at the strainer and in the trap. A tub with a lever stopper collects hair on the stopper mechanism inside the overflow.
• Kitchen sinks clog with grease. It goes down warm and liquid, cools in the pipe and sets. Rice, pasta, coffee grounds and eggshells stick to it. Pouring boiling water helps a little. Pouring more grease makes it worse.
• Laundry drains clog with lint, and a washer pumps water out fast enough to overflow a half-blocked standpipe.

Each of those gets cleared from the fixture: the trap comes off and gets cleaned, or a small drain snake goes through it. We don't pour chemical drain cleaner. It can soften old pipe, it sits in the trap if it doesn't work, and it's dangerous for whoever opens the trap next.

The pipe under the sink leaks

The drain pipes under a sink are plastic or chrome pieces held with slip nuts. They loosen, the washers inside them crack, and a slow drip starts that shows up as a damp cabinet floor. Retightening fixes some. Most get a new washer or a new section of pipe, since the parts are cheap and the cabinet floor isn't. If the floor is already swollen, it can be replaced too.

Replacing the drain piping under a sink is a fixture-level repair. Replacing the drain pipe inside the wall or under the slab is not. Some cities treat even the under-sink drain as permit work. Glendale, for example, lists replacing the drain pipes under sinks and toilets as needing a permit. We can help with pipe inside the wall or floor too.

Signs it's further down the line

These mean the clog isn't at the fixture:

• Two or more drains slow at the same time
• A toilet gurgles when the sink or tub drains
• Water comes up in the shower when the washer drains
• A clog that comes back a few weeks after it's cleared
• Sewage smell at a drain that gets used regularly

A main line clog, roots in the sewer, or a bellied pipe under the slab needs a camera and a bigger machine. We can help with that too.

Drains that smell

A drain that smells like sewage but runs fine has usually dried out. The water in the trap evaporates in a guest bath or a floor drain that hasn't been used in weeks, and gas comes up. Running water for a minute refills the trap. If it keeps happening, the trap or the vent for that line has a problem, and that's worth a look.

A kitchen drain that smells but isn't dry has food built up in the pipe walls or in the disposal. Cleaning the trap and the disposal usually fixes it.

AC drain lines

In summer, the air conditioner makes a lot of water, and it runs out through its own small drain line. When that line clogs, water backs up into the air handler or drips through the ceiling. That line is part of the AC system, and we can help clear it too.

Problems we fix on this page

• Sink drains slowly
• Sink is clogged
• Water backs up into the other side of a double sink
• Drain basket leaks under the sink
• P-trap under the sink leaks
• Sink sprayer hose tangled with the drain
• Top-mount sink caulk is moldy or peeling
• Gap between sink and countertop
• Want a new drop-in sink in the same spot
• Tub drains slowly
• Shower drain slow
• Tub stopper broken
• Tub stopper stuck closed
• Shower drain cover missing or rusted
• Rotten smell from the dishwasher drain connection
• Sewer smell throughout the house

How it starts

Tell us which drain, how slow, and whether any other drain in the house is acting up. For a leak under the sink, send a photo of the pipes with the cabinet open. You'll have a fixed price before anyone shows up. Levi does the work himself.