My kitchen sink had been draining a little slow for a couple of days. Instead of calling maintenance (I rent), I figured I could fix it myself. I had been doing well saving money lately, picking up small freelance gigs, and I didn’t want to waste it on something I thought would be a five-minute job.
First, I tried pouring some baking soda and vinegar down the drain, the internet’s favorite solution. Nothing happened. So I got brave and decided to take apart the P-trap under the sink. I watched a 5-minute YouTube video and figured I had it handled.
Well… I did not have it handled. The second I loosened the pipe, a wave of gross, stagnant water exploded out. It didn’t just spill, it shot out across my kitchen floor.
In my panic to catch the mess, I bumped the pipe even harder, fully snapping it off the wall connection. Now, instead of a slow drain, I had a full open drain pouring water into my cabinet and floor every time I turned on the faucet (which, of course, I reflexively did while trying to clean up).
I ended up having to shut off the water completely and call emergency maintenance anyway, which cost me extra because it was after hours. And I had to explain that I “accidentally removed part of the sink plumbing.” Not my finest moment.
The best part? The original clog wasn’t even in the P-trap. It was further down the main line.
Lesson learned: sometimes paying a little upfront saves you a lot later.
TL;DR: Tried to DIY fix my slow-draining kitchen sink to save money, ended up breaking the pipe, flooding my floor, and paying extra for emergency repairs.
Comments
Did you miss the part of the video that told you to put a bucket under the drain before removing the p-trap?
Apparently this DIY disaster required an ER visit for your kitchen, maybe next time just order pizza and let the pros handle it.
Is the point of renting not that the landlord pays for repairs? Surely you’d not have had to pay for maintenance to fix stuff cos that’s their job? You’re already paying for their services in your rent
>First, I tried pouring some baking soda and vinegar down the drain, the internet’s favorite solution. Nothing happened. So I got brave and decided to take apart the P-trap under the sink. I watched a 5-minute YouTube video and figured I had it handled.
This never works. You made bubbling salt water. Nothing else. Acid + Base = Water + Salt. Chemistry 101. You may have even made the clog worse if you had more baking soda than the vinegar could react with. Never do that again.
Kitchen Drain you need lye based opener. Kitchen drain will have fats in them. The lye turn the fats into soaps and help remove them. Think back to Fight club, lye + human fat = soap they sold, same thing for oils and animal fats.
All other drains, Sulfuric Acid based to clean organics, hair, skin, dead animals, etc.
1st step. Plunger the drain. This is the 1st thing a Pro Plumber will try and charge you $60-$120 for, then will recommend you do a foaming Lye drain clean after. If this fails, they will need to snake or run a camera to see what the hell kind of clog is resisting a plunger thrust and then probably snake and it will run you 300+.
Why mix baking soda and vinegar? One is acid, one is based, they neutralize each other.
So if you rent, maintenance does not cost you. It’s the landlords responsibility to maintain his property and deal with any issues that come up
I have done better , Years ago I was trying to make boiled peanuts without actually learning how to make them, I boiled a bag of roasted salted peanuts and it didn’t work well. So I go to dispose of the mess down the garbage disposal and completely clog it up. Next I go get a plunger and go at it pretty aggressively to sink full of water and peanut guts. I don’t give up easily and try harder until the disposal explodes from the pressure I’m applying with the plunger and now the mess is draining out of the cabinet all over the floor.