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1. What is wrong with my plumbing?
   

   I just bought a house and my kitchen sink and my bathroom sink back up horribly bad. Once the kitchen sink fills it takes at least 45 min to drain. I do not have any problems with the toilet or the shower. There aren't any bathrooms upstairs so all the plumbing is downstairs. I believe all the pipes are accessible in the basement. It is unfinished. I have tried snaking the pipes and that didn't do a thing. Where is the problem with my pipes and how expensive is it to fix?
   I actually bought the house last fall before any freeze and I had this problem so I know its not frozen pipes. The house is over 100 years old if that helps. I snaked it 10-15 feet maybe.
   

   Tags: kitchen sink, pipes, 100 years, plumbing, bathrooms, toilet

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   Asked by hippobutt
   Answered 16 years ago.

8 Answers

1. 
   The problem is most likely in the kitchen drain pipe beyond the 15 feet you tried.
   There should be a 2 inch clean out on the out side wall from the kitchen sink.
   This is were I would start. You will need a heavy duty electric snake that goes at least the distance it is from the kitchen sink to the main sewer line. 10 to 15 feet is to short.
   Unfortunately some older homes do not have clean outs. You can also go through the roof vent or remove the P-trap from under the sink.
   I would recommend a licensed plumbing contractor for any drain cleaning that requires a heavy duty rooter.
   If you still have the old iron drain pipes in your home and they can not be cleared you may want to have them replaced. The rust and iron solidify inside the pipe and it becomes very difficult to remove.
   You can tell if the vent is plugged if the drain water makes a glug glug noise as it slowly goes down.
   Also it could be that the kitchen drain connects to the bathroom sink drain before they connect to the main line which is near the toilet. This would be unusual though. They are most likely separate problems.
   This could be a 1 to 3 hour drain cleaning job.
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   Answered by Conte Plumbing PO Box 976, Petaluma, CA, 94953, 707-765-0226 (Novice with 74 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.

2. 
   your kitchen & bathroom sound like they are using the same plumbing wall which is common place & your 2" line that both sinks tap into is clogged up pretty bad. The 2" pipe then taps into the 4" main stack that your toilet goes to. I'd give it one more go with a rodder with a drill attachment. They rent these at tool rental places in chicago tru Wirtz or oleary's rentals & cost about 30 bucks a day. if that does not work just replace the 2" line that is giving you trouble
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   Answered by All Fields of Concrete 5246 S Kilbourn Ave, Chicago, IL, 60632, 773-735-1794 (Guru with 1293 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.

3. 
   Have your drain lines been replaced? I have an attachment for a power washer that jets forward and does a very good job cleaning, but I would be leary of poking a hole with it in a weak rusty pipe as it rattles around while doing it's cleaning job.
   Also check for root intrusion. Roebic makes a root killer, but that will take some time to work.
   Good luck!
   Steve
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   Answered by Unknown (Novice with 6 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.

4. 
   it's best to get a licensed plumber to come out and look at your plumbing and then they can give you an idea of what it will take to fix the problem
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   Answered by Jims Plumbing & Electrical Inc 616 Ranch Hill Dr, Clarksville, TN, 37042, 931-503-2400 (Novice with 3 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.

5. 
   You may need to have the vent snaked, not just the drain. You may have a birds nest or some sort of garbage in the vent.
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   Answered by Simmons Plumbing Company http://www.simmonplumbing.info, Albuquerque, NM, 87109, 505-881-6312 (Novice with 2 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.

6. 
   Its either a blocked or undersized vent, clogged or poor draining traps, and or a clogged comon drain which the two empty into. A good local plumber should sort this out quickly.
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   Answered by Anthony Sarno Masonry 1254 Hessian Ave, National Park, NJ, 08063, 856-853-7135 (Novice with 109 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.

7. 
   your plumber might want to check your vent, also some jobbers use a pro-vent, that might be the problem
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   Answered by Sal (Novice with 12 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.

8. 
   I think you need a good home improvement contractor. You can browse to get good contractors in your locality. www.localconstructionpros.com
   Links: www.localconstructionpros.com
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   Answered by localconstructionpro (Novice with 4 pts.)

   Answered 16 years ago.