How do you unclog a drain with standing water?

+1 vote
asked May 26, 2018 in Do it yourself by Copelandxe (420 points)
How do you unclog a drain with standing water?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered May 26, 2018 by Essmann (42,860 points)
If it's a sink that has standing water in it and it won't drain try placing a bucket under the P Trap to catch any water and then remove the P Trap from the drain.

It could be that something is in the P Trap clogging the sink or other drain up and simply removing the P Trap to clean it out could unclog the drain.

If that doesn't work you can remove the standing water from the sink with a wet dry vac or if it's a bathtub you can use a bucket to remove the water and then suck the rest of it dry with a wet dry vac or other water pump.

Then once you have the water drained out you can pour 1/2 a cup of table salt down your drain and then follow that by pouring some boiling water down the drain.

And then let it sit for 10 minutes or longer and then run some hot water down the drain.

You can also use baking soda and vinegar to unclog a drain by pouring some baking soda down the drain and then pour some vinegar down the drain and cover the drain and let it fizz for around 30 minutes and then pour boiling hot water down the drain which should clear it.

If that doesn't work then the clog may be further down the drain line and you should look for a clean out on the drain pipe where you can run a plumbers snake down the drain to clear the clog.

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