Most blocked kitchen drains we clear in Brunswick are not caused by one big thing. They build up over months from small things that looked harmless going down. The pipe under your sink is only 40 or 50 millimetres wide, and in an older house it can run a long way with very little fall before it reaches the sewer.
The things that cause the most trouble
- Cooking fat and oil. It goes down as a liquid, cools in the pipe and sets like candle wax. Hot water and detergent only push it further along before it sets.
- Coffee grounds. They do not dissolve. They settle in the bend and bind with grease into a paste.
- Rice, pasta and oats. They keep swelling in water, so a spoonful in the pipe turns into a plug.
- Flour and batter. Mixed with water it is glue.
What to do instead
Wipe greasy pans with paper towel before you wash them and put the towel in the bin. Pour leftover oil into a jar or an empty tin, let it set, and bin that too. Coffee grounds can go on the garden or in the compost. A sink strainer costs about $5 at a hardware shop and catches most of the rest. Once a week, fill the sink with hot tap water and pull the plug, so a full pipe of water flushes the line instead of a trickle.
If it is already slow
A sink that drains slowly or gurgles is giving you early warning. Try a plunger first: block the overflow or the second bowl with a wet cloth, cover the plug hole and give it a dozen firm strokes. If you are comfortable with it, put a bucket under the trap, unscrew it by hand and clean it out. The trap is the U-shaped bend under the sink, and it is where most of the muck sits.
Go easy on caustic drain cleaners. They rarely shift a grease blockage, they can damage older pipes and seals, and they leave a sink full of chemical that someone then has to work in. If you have used one, tell your plumber before they start.
When to stop and call
Call a plumber if the water comes back up in the other bowl, if the laundry or an outside drain is slow at the same time, or if you can smell sewage. Those point to a blockage further down the line, where a plunger cannot reach. Clearing a kitchen line with a water jetter usually costs from $220, and a camera check tells you whether it was only grease or a pipe that has sagged or cracked.