Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with clogged

Kitchen drain maintenance?

exhilaration — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:35:21 -0800

How do I keep my kitchen drain from clogging? I already have a good strainer, but I keep getting these grease clogs. Is there some safe chemical or homemade concoction I can use on a regular basis? After living in my house for 4 years, my kitchen drain clogged, then again 6 months later (last week) - not a total clog, but like 30 minutes-to-drain slow. Drano etc. didn't work, neither did a snake - it went right through the gunk, I even rented a motorized one from Home Depot! What did work was this crazy, dangerous chemical (417841 on the Home Depot website) that I have to go into the basement, unscrew the pipe, and carefully pour in with a funnel and tube (wearing eye and hand protection). I let it work overnight and my drain is perfect in the morning. So I guess it's a grease clog - how can I keep it from coming back?

Plumbing fail - clogged kitchen sink

wongcorgi — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:28:50 -0800

Clogged kitchen sink, what can I try next? I have a clogged kitchen sink. I've snaked the drain starting under the sink with a 6ft length and a 25 footer with no luck. I've done it about 5 times with some chunks coming back but still have 0 flow, each time filling the drain up with boiling water. The last two time using drano, waiting a few hours then the water.

My plan is to get a longer snake, but how long do I need? I'm thinking that if I can just keep pushing, the clog will just fall into a larger pipe (?) If my thinking is wrong, please let me know. I just don't want to have to keep buying progressively longer tools (I bought the 6ft and 25ft so far).

Or if anyone has any other ideas...? I've also tried a wet vac blowing as well as vacuuming with no luck as well as spirited plunging of the above drain.

I'd rather not call the a plumber ($$).

clogged bathtub drain is backing me up

rxbert — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:17:02 -0800

this is a really hard to figure out problem with a clogged drain. I have a tub that was installed new several months ago and it suddenly has begun slow draining to almost not draining at all. there is a toilet less than 5 feet away that flushes fine (the toilet was installed approx. two weeks ago. I also have a kitchen sink and clothes washer that do not have any issues draining. so far, I have had three different contractor guys look at it, with no resolution (one came out for that reason only last Saturday, he used one of the bladder thingys to try to clear it). another guy thought it might be a vent issue, so I went into the attic to check that out... but I don't know if I did anything helpful. I have even dug up about half of the sewer line in the front yard, but it is all PVC and doesn't look to be too old (the house was built in '55) and the joints look pretty clean as far as roots go...
I am really stumped here and hope that the "hive mind" can assist. at this point I would be happy to take a recommendation to a good plumber, so he could take care of the problem for me. But, I do look forward to some good ideas and recommendations from the group...

Why does my new home clog my nose?

lorrer — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:16:16 -0800

My new home makes my nose slightly stuffy all day, every day. Why could this be, and how can I fix it? I moved into a new apartment a few months ago.

The first few times I stayed there, my boyfriend and I noticed that our noses got stuffy by the time we woke up the next morning. At the time, we had recently painted the walls and refinished the floors, and we thought our symptoms would go away as the smell from the paint and floors faded. However, months later and now that I am sleeping at home every night, I find my nose is mildly stuffy all the time. My boyfriend stays on the weekends and I think he gets mild symptoms in the mornings, but he has always had a bit of a stuffy nose in the mornings so it is hard to say.

Here is the state of the apartment now: I have two HEPA air filters that run in the apartment all the time, and have since we moved in. There is some dust and I'm still unpacking, but I've never been allergic to dust or anything other than pet dander. We don't have pets. I also started a new job so I suppose it is possible that something in the air at work is doing this, but it seems more likely that my home is, because people at work seem just fine. There is a window right by the bed, and my boyfriend has suggested that maybe a draft is causing the stuffiness. However, it was warm out when we moved in and it seems like a draft would only get your nose stuffy if it was cold, if a draft would stuff up a nose at all.

1) What could still be causing this?
2) Ideas on how to fix it?

Thank you!

Make it pop!

purplefiber — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 08:25:46 -0800

How do I unclog my ear? I always hate flying because there's always someone sick sitting next to me on the plane. This time, shamefully, I was the sick one with my kleenex and coughdrops. My ears hurt like hell while we were descending, and now my right ear is still clogged (the next day). Is there anything I can do?