Tip Dude ran across a problem today. His roommate had left dishes all over the sink and he couldn’t get the sink to drain. So, besides removing the roommate, what else can you do to make sure your kitchen sink is working properly?

• Pump Your Sink - For emergency repairs, go to the hardware store. Buy a toilet plunger. Write Kitchen Sink Only on it with a black marker. Use it on the sink as you would the toilet bowl. Do that a few times and you would have dislodged whatever is blocking your sink, and your sink will likely drain.
• Don’t Use The Sink While It’s Raining Out - In older cities such as New York and Boston, there is no separate storm drain system. The drainage system was not designed for the amount of rain that we get today. (Hello, global warming!) The sink, toilet and storm drain on the street all empty into the same sewer system, which has to be treated by sewage treatment plants. If there is a lot of rain, the plant gets overwhelmed by all the storm drain water. The main drain pipes under the streets will back up. Thus, the sink will not work, and will back up. No amount of plunging is going to solve that one. So, don’t use the sink or the toilet, especially if you live in a basement. (Tip Dude lived in a basement directly over an underground stream when he was in college.)
• Get An InSinkErator - To prevent your sink from backing up, get a garbage disposal. Have a plumber or electrician install it. (This is truly not a job for the amateur). A garbage disposal machine attaches to the drain and, when you turn it on, it chews up the garbage as the sink drains. This does two things: (a) stop discrete pieces of vegetable and pasta from getting in there and blocking the drain and (b) because little pieces don’t block the drain, it doesn’t give the bacteria time to grow and make your sink smell foul. Just remember to turn the water on and make sure it is running when you are using the InSinkErator, else wise it will burn out.
• Use a Snake - A snake is a long piece of bendable steel tubing with a ball of scraper attached on the end. The bendable steel part looks like a payphone cord. The scraper part looks like a devil’s spike mace ball. If you cannot dislodge whatever that’s blocking your drain (a dead mouse someone had poisoned?) with the plunger, remove the drain covering and shove that snake down the drain. Wear plastic gloves. Push it all the way in until you can’t go any further. Move it up and down in a repeated motion. Yank it back out. Remove the smelly goop that’s attached to the spike ball. Repeat. Repeat again. Test drain and see if it now works. If not, try to shove the snake even further down. You might need some force.
• Have Drano Ready - Drano is a chemical that you put down the drain to dissolve whatever that’s sitting down there. It’ll probably work for old food and grease, and the calcium deposit that forms in hard water areas. It’s not going to dissolve a dead mouse or rock fragments. So, if the snake doesn’t get it all out, try pouring Drano down it, waiting for a few minutes (or follow instructions on the can), and then flushing the drain pipe and then try again with the snake. Tip Dude hasn’t had good luck with Drano, but that might be because Tip Dude’s drains are always blocked by rock fragments or dead mice.
• Do Not Wash Your Hiking Boots in Your Sink - Ever wondered why you have rock fragments in your drain pipe? Not that Tip Dude had ever done that, but Tip Dude’s old apartment had an “Appalachian Mountain Club” sticker in the window from the previous resident - and when the landlord finally called a plumber, he took the drain pipe apart and found rock fragments in the drain. Oh, and don’t wear rings while using the kitchen sink, either.
• Do Not Pour Bacon Fat Down The Drain - Bacon fat + cold water = solid fat that stick to drain walls. Bacteria grows. Drain smells. More food gets stuck to the growing mold and bacteria. More bacteria grows. Drain is blocked. If you must discard grease, pour it into a plastic bag and throw it in the trash. That way the neighborhood mice have something to eat, and you don’t find them dead in your drain pipe trying to eat the congealed bacon fat you poured down there. Similarly, don’t wash pasta, vegetables, orange peels, chestnut casings egg shells, etc. down the drain. Not unless you had an InSinkErator.
• Don’t Leave the Water Running For Your Pets - It’s a waste of water. It’ll cause lots of damage if the drain pipe ever backs up. If your cats like to drink moving water, get a cat water fountain that continually recycle the same water.
• Troubleshoot The Drain Pipe - If your bathroom sink is working, and your kitchen sink isn’t, try taking the kitchen drain pipe apart and see what you find. You can usually unscrew the kitchen drain pipe with ease. There are several different designs of drain pipes but usually the one installed in the kitchen will contain some kind of a trap that traps debris. Wear gloves. Dig out the crap. Don’t forget to put it back together before using the kitchen sink again. Check the same kinds of traps in the drain pipe all the way down to the sewer if you are feeling confident. There are usually trap doors you can open with a screwdriver at each twist and turn in the drain pipe. When you do this, you need to make sure no one else in your building is using the drain, though.
• Call a Plumber - If the last tip confuses you, or didn’t work for you, it’s time to call a professional.

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