Improve my home roto rooter for better clearing?

[bearcat1]

Hi,
Wondered if any handy folks here would have an idea of how to make my home drain snake / roto rooter (pic attached, pretty typical 1/2" tip or so) clear out a bigger diameter hole thru the clog? Some sort of bigger attachment on the end?

I have a very clog-prone kitchen sink drain. I use this home one and it clogs up again in 1-3 months. Due to some weird piping in my ground floor condo, I get water backup in my sink from my upstairs neighbor, it's not just mine. I came home yesterday from a vacation and very nearly had a flood. Makes me nervous to leave for more than a couple days. Neighbor and I are already using sink strainers so I don't know how else to prevent it.

So is there any way I can make this work better? Or just call a plumber to come with his bigger equipment every 6 months or so? (I did that the first time it backed up and it was clear for about 9 months or so.)

[Askel]

There are attachments, although typically used with power drain cleaners (which aren't super expensive if you get a cheapo harbor freight model):

https://www.harborfreight.com/plumbing/drain-cleaners-augers/drain-cleaner-replacement-cable-and-cutter-set-70483.html

But man, I would probably lose my damn mind trying to figure out what's causing that situation.

[sonofsven]

You can rent a bigger machine for half a day.

[ChpBstrd]

Shove it back and forth a whole lot while it's spinning.

[GilesMM]

It's not normal for the drain to clog that frequently.  Are you sure neighbor is not putting a lot of grease down there or other stuff?

[sonofsven]

My concern would be that any wire (or whatever) that I string into the end of the snake  to give it more *action* would come off and add to the clog.
After you run the snake you could try using a water jet attachment on a garden hose, it's called a Drain King.
There's at least two different sizes (maybe more?), but you'd want the small size for a kitchen drain.
It's made of rubber that expands under pressure to seal up somewhat against the sides of the drain line, so the spray has more force since it can't just drain back so easily. Run it in as far as you can before you turn on the water.

If your kitchen drain vents straight up through the roof you  can run it down from there, just make sure you're past the kitchen sink entry point to the drain or it will backfill there, taking the path of least resistance. And don't fall off the roof.

It should clean up any gunk leftover from the snaking.
You could also have your drain scoped to see what's happening.

[GilesMM]

I’ve always been reluctant to put water down vents for fear of a leaking vent and bigger problem.

[lthenderson]

My guess is that somebody is dumping grease down their drain. I have lived in a number of apartment situations and this is usually the cause of frequent plumbing backups in the downstairs apartment.

[sonofsven]

I’ve always been reluctant to put water down vents for fear of a leaking vent and bigger problem.

I've never encountered any issues, I've done it a few times. The vent pipe is glued just like the drain pipe.

[bearcat1]

It's not normal for the drain to clog that frequently.  Are you sure neighbor is not putting a lot of grease down there or other stuff?

He says he's not, and I gave him a sink strainer that he says he uses. I wonder too though.

[bearcat1]

My concern would be that any wire (or whatever) that I string into the end of the snake  to give it more *action* would come off and add to the clog.
After you run the snake you could try using a water jet attachment on a garden hose, it's called a Drain King.
There's at least two different sizes (maybe more?), but you'd want the small size for a kitchen drain.
It's made of rubber that expands under pressure to seal up somewhat against the sides of the drain line, so the spray has more force since it can't just drain back so easily. Run it in as far as you can before you turn on the water.

If your kitchen drain vents straight up through the roof you  can run it down from there, just make sure you're past the kitchen sink entry point to the drain or it will backfill there, taking the path of least resistance. And don't fall off the roof.

It should clean up any gunk leftover from the snaking.
You could also have your drain scoped to see what's happening.

I was thinking of asking a plumber to scope it, yes. I'd be nervous about attaching any wires unless they were welded on, same thought as you.

I hadn't heard of the Drain King, maybe I will look into that. I don't have access to the roof, so can I just open the U trap and run it through there?

[sonofsven]

My concern would be that any wire (or whatever) that I string into the end of the snake  to give it more *action* would come off and add to the clog.
After you run the snake you could try using a water jet attachment on a garden hose, it's called a Drain King.
There's at least two different sizes (maybe more?), but you'd want the small size for a kitchen drain.
It's made of rubber that expands under pressure to seal up somewhat against the sides of the drain line, so the spray has more force since it can't just drain back so easily. Run it in as far as you can before you turn on the water.

If your kitchen drain vents straight up through the roof you  can run it down from there, just make sure you're past the kitchen sink entry point to the drain or it will backfill there, taking the path of least resistance. And don't fall off the roof.

It should clean up any gunk leftover from the snaking.
You could also have your drain scoped to see what's happening.

I was thinking of asking a plumber to scope it, yes. I'd be nervous about attaching any wires unless they were welded on, same thought as you.

I hadn't heard of the Drain King, maybe I will look into that. I don't have access to the roof, so can I just open the U trap and run it through there?

Yes, try to get it in the wall far enough that it's going "downhill".
Renting a power snake might be a good option, too. You can get one that's mounted on a drill body or a really heavy duty unit on wheels that has a powerful electric motor and a thick cable.

[SnipTheDog]

You could have roots in the pipe further out.  Where there's a drain, there should be a clean out near the drain.  The clean out should have a larger diameter pipe to allow a larger rooter.  Call a pro and be done with it for the next 10 years or so.

[bearcat1]

My concern would be that any wire (or whatever) that I string into the end of the snake  to give it more *action* would come off and add to the clog.
After you run the snake you could try using a water jet attachment on a garden hose, it's called a Drain King.
There's at least two different sizes (maybe more?), but you'd want the small size for a kitchen drain.
It's made of rubber that expands under pressure to seal up somewhat against the sides of the drain line, so the spray has more force since it can't just drain back so easily. Run it in as far as you can before you turn on the water.

If your kitchen drain vents straight up through the roof you  can run it down from there, just make sure you're past the kitchen sink entry point to the drain or it will backfill there, taking the path of least resistance. And don't fall off the roof.

It should clean up any gunk leftover from the snaking.
You could also have your drain scoped to see what's happening.

I was thinking of asking a plumber to scope it, yes. I'd be nervous about attaching any wires unless they were welded on, same thought as you.

I hadn't heard of the Drain King, maybe I will look into that. I don't have access to the roof, so can I just open the U trap and run it through there?

Yes, try to get it in the wall far enough that it's going "downhill".
Renting a power snake might be a good option, too. You can get one that's mounted on a drill body or a really heavy duty unit on wheels that has a powerful electric motor and a thick cable.

I reconsidered this now too though, because the path of least resistance might be that the water jet goes back up into my upstairs neighbor's kitchen drain pipe, yes? (The worst of the clog has to be after where our two pipes come together, and presumably his downwards drain pipe isn't terribly clogged.)

Anyway, on my local plumbing store's recommendation I got some industrial-kitchen strength enzymatic drain cleaner, Javelin is the brand, I will try that first and see if it helps. Will report back. If not then I'll have to call a pro again, or rent a bigger one.

[ChickenStash]

Since this is a condo, are you sure this is your responsibility to fix? If your neighbor's drain water is backing up into your unit, this sounds like something that needs to be looked at in the common plumbing which should be the association's domain.

If you are on the hook for it, I'd suggest calling in a professional. I'm very pro-DIY, but I haven't seen many good results with the light duty snakes compared to the pro stuff for a bad clog. They are worth a shot for the first attempt but if it keeps clogging then someone needs to get the real tools out and/or scope it to see what's going on. 

[bearcat1]

Since this is a condo, are you sure this is your responsibility to fix? If your neighbor's drain water is backing up into your unit, this sounds like something that needs to be looked at in the common plumbing which should be the association's domain.

If you are on the hook for it, I'd suggest calling in a professional. I'm very pro-DIY, but I haven't seen many good results with the light duty snakes compared to the pro stuff for a bad clog. They are worth a shot for the first attempt but if it keeps clogging then someone needs to get the real tools out and/or scope it to see what's going on.

Probably yes in theory. In actuality, my condo HOA is very hands off in stuff like this. 🙄 but I could ask.