Yuk . . . Slow Drains.
The kitchen drain system here is not well designed. It has a long horizontal run with very shallow pitch. The kitchen sink drains were getting very slow again.
So I went up to DIY Center and bought a gallon of Main Line,which is supposed to clear out horizontals. You use the whole gallon at once.
Poured it in and left it overnight, it's supposed to sit for 8 hours or more.
The drains were even slower, and this morning pretty much unusable. I went back up the hill and got another gallon of Main Line. I only gave it 5 hours, before cecking, and - no joy. Still unusably slow.
So, this left me an unpleasant job to do. On my way to get this second gallon of Main Line, I stopped at Harbor Freight and bought a powerful electric drain reamer.
But it was mid afternoon - and you just don't start plumbing jobs in the afternoon. Everything you touch will break, and the job will take several trips to the plumbing supply, and take three times as long as it possibly can. So, morning.
But, I had dishes to wash, and wanted some drainage so I could use the sink.
I filled the sink with hot water, and used my plunger vigorously. It's a plastic bellows type, much more powerful than the old red rubber cup things. Didn't do much good. by time the sink emptied, in about an hour and a half, it drained more slowly than before.
But, I decided to try again, and again filled the sink to the top with hot water. I plunged vigorously, then rested. I went back and plunged some more. Then I rested and returned again, plunging with all my strength. Suddenly, there was not enough water in the sink to do any more plunging - the blockage had broken through.
It broke through really good, the drains drained faster than any time I could remember. I did a lot of washing so the hot water could be left running full blast to wash out as much crud as possible.
So, now I have this big machine that doesn't have a job to do. No problem, I'll just wrap it in plastic and stash it under the house. It's day will come.
So I went up to DIY Center and bought a gallon of Main Line,which is supposed to clear out horizontals. You use the whole gallon at once.
Poured it in and left it overnight, it's supposed to sit for 8 hours or more.
The drains were even slower, and this morning pretty much unusable. I went back up the hill and got another gallon of Main Line. I only gave it 5 hours, before cecking, and - no joy. Still unusably slow.
So, this left me an unpleasant job to do. On my way to get this second gallon of Main Line, I stopped at Harbor Freight and bought a powerful electric drain reamer.
But it was mid afternoon - and you just don't start plumbing jobs in the afternoon. Everything you touch will break, and the job will take several trips to the plumbing supply, and take three times as long as it possibly can. So, morning.
But, I had dishes to wash, and wanted some drainage so I could use the sink.
I filled the sink with hot water, and used my plunger vigorously. It's a plastic bellows type, much more powerful than the old red rubber cup things. Didn't do much good. by time the sink emptied, in about an hour and a half, it drained more slowly than before.
But, I decided to try again, and again filled the sink to the top with hot water. I plunged vigorously, then rested. I went back and plunged some more. Then I rested and returned again, plunging with all my strength. Suddenly, there was not enough water in the sink to do any more plunging - the blockage had broken through.
It broke through really good, the drains drained faster than any time I could remember. I did a lot of washing so the hot water could be left running full blast to wash out as much crud as possible.
So, now I have this big machine that doesn't have a job to do. No problem, I'll just wrap it in plastic and stash it under the house. It's day will come.
