kim819•2mo ago

Talked to a plumber at Rona last week about my shoddy DIY drain snake job

He said I likely just pushed the clog further down and now it's probably stuck in the main line, has anyone else had their home fix completely backfire like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

alex_johnson2mo ago

...and then on top of that, are you even sure that clog was just from normal buildup? Nobody ever thinks about what actually goes down their drains. Like, if you've been dumping coffee grounds or grease down there, that stuff doesn't just sit in one spot. It hardens into basically concrete over time, and when you shove a snake through it you're just making a tunnel through the middle of a solid mass. The real fix might be needing a hydro-jetting service to actually blast all that hardened gunk off the pipe walls instead of just poking a hole through it.

fox.derek2mo ago

Gotta disagree with @alex_johnson though, sometimes a snake really does just push stuff deeper.

the_patricia1mo ago

Exactly! I had a sink that was draining slow for months. Kept snaking it and it would work for like a week then start backing up again. Drove me nuts. Finally I pulled the trap off and stuck a shop vac on the pipe opening. Sucked out this nasty sludge that was basically solidified grease and hair mixed together. After that it drained like brand new. Snakes just poke a hole but that crap sticks to the walls and eventually closes back up. Sometimes you gotta go at it from a different angle than just pushing a wire through.