Kitchen Drain Cleaning in Ajax

Telltales that call for kitchen drain cleaning

• Water rising in one bowl when the other one drains.
• Standing water inside the dishwasher once it finishes.
• A gurgle under the sink and a smell like old soup.
• A disposal that hums and spins but sends water nowhere.

If plunging one bowl just pushes water up the other, block the second drain with a wet rag before trying again. If that fails, stop; the clog is past the trap.

How we do the work

We lay a towel, set a bucket and take the P-trap off by hand. A clean trap means the blockage is in the branch line inside the wall or under the floor. We feed a 5/16-inch cable through the trap arm with a spring head, then switch to a cutting head if the cable meets hard fat. On long runs to the stack we work from the basement cleanout as well, so the line is cleared end to end.

After the line runs freely we put the trap back with fresh slip washers, run hot water for several minutes, and fill both bowls to check for leaks at every joint.

On Ajax streets

Many Ajax kitchens sit on an island or a peninsula added during a renovation, with a long horizontal run back to the stack. Those runs often have too little slope, so fat settles. Others still drain through a galvanized arm that narrowed with rust decades ago. When we find either, we explain what replacing that short section would involve.

Price swings on

Whether the clog is in the trap, the wall or the main; whether there is basement access; and whether a disposal or dishwasher connection has to be taken apart to reach it.

Worth asking the plumber

• Is the slope on my island line correct?
• Should my dishwasher drain have a high loop or air gap?
• Is the disposal adding to the problem?