I recently had occasion to deal with a stopped up bathroom sink in my home. The house is 50 yr old; I have lived there for 3 years. What I discovered was pretty disgusting. In the pipes inside the wall (after the P or J pipe below the sink) was a thick black sludge…the residue of (i presume) decades of toothpaste, soap scum, hair, and heavens knows what else. I was able to scrape some of this muck out with a flat stick part way down the pipe and with the help of a snake.
What is this stuff? Should I be concerned…it looked pretty unhealthy, altho there was no odor. Is it hazardous? Should I attempt to clean out more of it? With what? The usual Drano type products apparently had little effect on it. It’s all inside the pipes and behind the walls…out of sight. Should I just try to forget I ever saw it?Does this sludge build up and eventually you just replace the plumbing pipes?
Thanks. Any advice is appreciated.
Replies
Ooooh.... the joys of being a plumber. Good job security though. I remember as an apprentice I had to go to the truck because I was going to be sick when I saw the master plumber pull something like that out. Never did a DNA to see what it was, but I suspect you are right. Prefer not to think about it though. There are some strong chemicals like out there with acid (Klobber) that'll cut it, but I wouldn't use them on metal pipes. I clean out what I can and run some very hot water down afterwards. Most drains like that never get really hot water run down them like a kitchen sink so I think bacteria grows.
Yesterday I couldn't even spell plumber, today I are one.
Mike--
I'd guess that stuff's mostly hair and soap. You should see the loads we pull out of shower and tub drains sometimes.
There's an incomprehensible modern tendency to install cheap abs p-traps WITHOUT clean-out plugs that I encounter from time to time. I don't understand it, I just testify to it. When that's the case I can sometimes get a long, thin hook made out of a coat hanger down through the drain grating and hook it into the hair and twist it a bit till I've got a good grip. Then I try to pull it up. You keep doing this until you can't get any more to come up. Then, as the other fella said, run some good hot water down the drain for a while and hope it runs free.
If that doesn't work, get out the Sawzall and a full-sized power snake--then install a replacement trap with a clean-out.
Finally, put cleaning your traps on a scheduled-maintenance basis--I'd suggest more often than once every 50 years, tho.
Cheers,
Dinosaur
oops! clicked the wrong name to reply to--this was meant for Marty1. Sorry, Mike.
Edited 5/27/2003 8:02:37 PM ET by Dinosaur
Edited 5/27/2003 8:04:43 PM ET by Dinosaur