Kitchen Sink Draining Slowly: What’s the Problem?

LESLIE: Ray in North Carolina, you’ve got a plumbing question. How can we help you?

RAY: I have a double sink in the kitchen.  One side has a garbage disposal and my other sink, sometimes when I have a lot of water in it, it just does not want to drain down real fast, you know? It’ll drain but it’s slow.

TOM: Alright. Have you ever checked the traps underneath your sink?

RAY: Yes, I have. I’ve taken it apart to see if it was clogged or anything. Nothing in there.

TOM: So the obstruction must be farther down the line and – or it could be a venting issue. If there’s not enough air getting into those lines – those vent lines – that could slow down the drain, as well. Do they ever gurgle?

RAY: No. It’ll go down. It just – sometimes it’s real slow about going down.

TOM: And this is the – and this is not the side that has the disposer on it? This is the other side?

RAY: It’s the other side, yeah.

TOM: So, I mean it’s probably an obstruction further down the line here. And what I might do is I might take the trap apart and I would run a snake down where the drainpipe goes into the wall or into the floor, however this drains, and try to clear it down to the main waste pipe. It’s probably going to be in there. And it could be something as simple as soap scum that gets sort of trapped in there and grows, so to speak, over time. I’ve seen that happen a lot.

RAY: Maybe I should take it apart again. It’s been a while since I’ve done it but…

TOM: You could also go down. If you can access it from below, you could also snake up into the sink if that’s easier.

RAY: OK. I’ll try that.

TOM: Ray, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.