Dame-It-Yourself: Unclog Your Drain

Tell your man you're going to clean his pipes

By Rachel Thomas
Published: Dec 01, 2007

If it’s your drain that needs unclogging, we suggest seeing a physician. If it’s your sink’s drain, or your man’s sink’s drain, DAME recommends taking a few painless steps towards clean pipes. It’s not all suction with these pipes, ladies. Besides a plunger, you will need some other tools. Note that too much force may permanently damage your pipes. If you can’t seem to get your drains unclogged after a few tries, call a licensed professional.

Needs:
Plunger
Pipe Wrench
Bucket
25 ft. Cable Auger/Plumbers Snake

THE SCENARIO:
A stubborn sink leaves you with a stink.

ACTION

Plan A:
First, try the plunger. Fill the sink halfway with warm water, and plunge like you never have before. Secure it over the drain, and pump up and down firmly several times before pulling it off. If it’s a double sink, stuff a rag into the other hole. If it’s a bathroom sink, stuff a rag into the overflow hole. This helps all the air pressure be directed to the problem area.

Plan B:
Your plunging proved futile, and you just had a flashback of a drunken night where you dropped things into the drain to hear the lovely plunk sound. You need a serious spelunking tool. Grab your cable auger. Get under your sink, and bring a bucket with you. See the part of your plumbing that looks like a U? Find the part of the U closest to the floor- or the central bottom of the U- That is the sink trap. Now remove the sink trap. This can be unscrewed with a pipe wrench. Check and see if the clog is there. If so, you’re good. If not, remove the part of the plumbing sticking out horizontally from the wall. It should be looking you in the eyes. Take that out, and grab the cable auger, which has the look and feel of a Tommy Gun. Loosen the lock screw, and feed about 18 inches into the pipe, tighten the lock screw, and then turn the handle clockwise. Turn handle until your feel resistance- otherwise known as the little clog that could. Again loosen the lockscrew and extend some more cable into the drain. Retighten screw, and continue turning handle. You should have gotten to your clog by now. Just work on it until you feel no more resistance. Loosen lock screw, and bring the cable up. DO NOT turn the handle counter clockwise unless your cable seems to be caught on something. This could damage the auger.