I think my drain is blocked…

For a while now, I’ve noticed that the floor of the cupboard underneath my kitchen sink has been rather damp. Did I have a leak?

Using all my technical knowledge for sorting out these sorts of problems (to be honest, my DIY skills are negligible) I had a good feel around to see where the problem lay. I felt the bottom of the sink, the pipes, the seal around the sink, but everything was bone dry. So, what was causing the problem?

I ran the tap and sat and watched… and nothing. There was no leak, no dripping. Bloody hell, what was the problem?

I scratched my head and decided to do some washing up, whilst considering what my next step should be.

I filled the sink, added the washing up liquid, and then washed the plates and cutlery that sat beside the sink. I then pulled the plug and… and bloody hell, I could hear water pouring into the cupboard below. I opened the door and saw water pouring out of a pipe that was there to allow the dishwasher (that I’ve never used) to drain away. I reseated the plug in the sink and the water stopped. I released the plug again, but only for a couple of seconds. Nothing happened. I released the plug for longer and once more, water poured out of the drainage pipe. So, that was the problem. When emptying the sink, the flow of water must have been greater than that from the tap alone, and presumably, because the drain was partially blocked, I had a problem.

Below the cupboard is an inspection box into which the water runs, so I emptied the cupboard of its contents, and undid the top of the box. I ran the tap again, watching the flow of water as I did so. I saw that the water was draining successfully. I then partially filled the sink, pulled the plug and watched as the water filled the box and overflowed. Mmmm… I deduced that there must be a blockage somewhere down the line.

While I had the lid off, I took the opportunity to clear some of the detritus that had accumulated in the box, particularly the fat that had attached itself to the sides. I then poured a litre of drain cleaner down the pipe, left it for five minutes and then poured boiling water after it. I then partially filled the sink once more and pulled the plug. Once again, the box started to overflow. Bollocks.

I left things there. In passing, I mentioned my issue to Nigel, and he told me that he had what I think is called a ‘plumbing snake’ a long stiff cable with a wire coil on the end, used to unblock pipes.

He brought it round the next day, and I immediately pushed it down the pipe, gave it a few twirls, and pulled it back out again. It had some crap on the end of it, so hopefully I had removed the blockage. I tested things once more, but unfortunately the box was still overflowing.

Would I need to get a plumber in? That wasn’t a nice thought. Trying to get someone in the sort a problem is not the easiest thing in Portugal.

Just at that moment, Ben was passing by and stuck his head through my front door:

‘How’s it going?’

‘Not great. I have a blocked drain…’

‘Really? I’ve got just the thing!’

And so, the next day, he brought his ‘thing’ round. It looked a bit like a tommy gun, with 15 metres of cable held inside a cylinder. First off, he removed the drain cover that sat outside my house. My advice is not to do that too often. Blimey, you should see the size of the cockroaches in there!

Then, he got straight to work. He stuck his head in the cupboard under the sink, placed the end of his motorised ‘plumbing snake’ into the pipe and started the thing up. Five minutes later, he asked me to go outside and check the drain while he ran the tap. Everything looked good, with water pouring into the external drainage system. He then partially filled the sink and emptied it. This, too, seemed to drain away OK.

He stood up satisfied and said:

‘Just try your drain cleaner one more time and use Nigel’s ‘plumbing snake’, too. That should make sure that it’s truly unblocked.’

So, that’s what I did. I did as asked, then put the lid back on the inspection box, filled the sink and then… bloody hell, water was now leaking from under the rim of the cover. Had my efforts blocked the pipe again? I suppose that at least it wasn’t coming out of the dishwasher drainage pipe now…

I told Ben, and he said that he’d bring his motorised ‘plumbing snake’ around once more.

When he arrived, he unscrewed the lid, and was just about to place it on the side, when he took a closer look. He then proceeded to pull the remnants of some sort of tape from its threads.

‘Aha!’

‘What’s that?’ I asked.

‘Old plumbing tape,’ he responded. ‘It looks to me like the size of the drain was a problem from the start, and that it has always overflowed. The plumbing tape was used to seal the lid.’

Blimey… that would explain a lot.

Ben gave the pipe one more clean with his ‘plumbing snake’ and then we nipped down to the Chinese shop for some new plumbing tape.

On our return, we wrapped the newly purchased tape around the threads on the lid, screwed the lid back on the box, and filled the sink once more. I then pulled the plug and… voilá! The box was no longer leaking and the water wasn’t coming out of the dishwasher drainage pipe. Bonus! Success at last!

So yes, that was my excitement for the week.

Hopefully, I’ll have no more drainage problems for a while…