We regularly use our washing machine, dishwasher, electric sink unit and a sink. They all are connected to the same pipe that runs alongside the window wall to the main vertical drainage pipe that runs through the building. The pipes haven’t been checked for years before we moved into our house and of course the inevitable happened fairly quickly afterward. The big problem we had is that absolutely no chemical was effective in declogging the kitchen drain. We called in a plumber and the result was the biggest mess our kitchen has ever seen since construction. The plumber was burnt by a 94% sulfuric acid that he used unsuccessfully and eventually he was forced to do a more physical job, and that is where we realized that my husband could actually do this himself. So here we go, take the following few simple steps to avoid calling in the plumber:

First you need to identify where your kitchen drainage pipe is. Ours runs alongside the window wall and connects to the 5-inch main vertical drainage pipe in the eastern corner of the building. Find this pipe junction and you will see an access cap facing towards you. These caps are funny because they have been designed for access yet you might struggle to remove it because nobody has touched it for years. Try pouring a bit of liquid soap at the contact and then unscrew the cap. I advise using a mask, rubber gloves and goggles when doing this job for health and safety reasons.

Take a decent drill snake drain unblocker that comes with various attachments which you may have to use if pipe is seriously clogged (you shouldn’t pay more than $40 and they last for life). Push the snake drill through the access hole into a 2-inch kitchen drain pipe. You will feel when the snake reaches the obstruction. Push it forwards and backwards until the pipe is declogged. Be careful, as soon as this happens all the liquid in the drain pipe will rush towards the access junction so make sure you do not face it when this happens! Slightly open the tap with hot water and keep pushing the snake in and out to remove any residual material still attached to its inner wall. Attach the access cap and you’re done – saving more than $200.

There is also a very simple and effective way to avoid similar problems in the future using just hot water. Once a week open a hot water tap and leave it running for about 40-60 seconds. This will heat up the pipes and melt the grease on the inner walls of the drainage pipe. Wait for about 2-3 minutes to allow for melting. During that time insert a sink stopper and fill the sink 2/3 with very hot water. Rapidly remove the stopper from the sink and hot water will flush any residual grease from the kitchen drainage pipe into the main system. Make sure to insert stoppers in all your sinks for about half an hour afterward to prevent smells entering your home. Do this with all your sinks and baths once a week and you will never again have to call in the plumber for declogging the drains.