blocked sink...

[shaneo85]

Hey I'm after some advice. I've got a blocked sink/pipes and I have no idea what to do (I'm a student living in my first home away from home lol).

So the sinks blocked, no water will go down it. I took a plunger to it only to find that when I plunge, water then comes out of the hole above the plug hole kind of in between the taps. I tried blocking the hole with a tea towel and plunging again. This seems to have lead to more problems because when I did that, I could hear water leaking out from under the sink.

I then disconnected the white pipes under the sink which connect the bottom of the sink to the pipe which I assume goes outside. I disconnected the U bend bit, which had water in which I tipped out. There was no sign of anything which may have blocked it though.

Once all of the water was drained from the sink through the disconnected pipe and into my bucket, I reconnected the pipe and tried to run the water. It went right down the plug hole as it normally would but after 10 seconds or so the sink became block again and the same leak happened from under the sink.

The leak is quite a big drip and it’s on the bottom of the sink it's self, where the sink connects to the pipes. It's not on the pipes; it’s on the seal around the bottom of the sink which connects the sink to the pipes. I’ve tried plugging the leak, but it’s too strong.

Can anyone suggest anything?

 

[REDSAW]

Hey I'm after some advice. I've got a blocked sink/pipes and I have no idea what to do (I'm a student living in my first home away from home lol).

So the sinks blocked, no water will go down it. I took a plunger to it only to find that when I plunge, water then comes out of the hole above the plug hole kind of in between the taps. I tried blocking the hole with a tea towel and plunging again. This seems to have lead to more problems because when I did that, I could hear water leaking out from under the sink.

I then disconnected the white pipes under the sink which connect the bottom of the sink to the pipe which I assume goes outside. I disconnected the U bend bit, which had water in which I tipped out. There was no sign of anything which may have blocked it though.

Once all of the water was drained from the sink through the disconnected pipe and into my bucket, I reconnected the pipe and tried to run the water. It went right down the plug hole as it normally would but after 10 seconds or so the sink became block again and the same leak happened from under the sink.

The leak is quite a big drip and it’s on the bottom of the sink it's self, where the sink connects to the pipes. It's not on the pipes; it’s on the seal around the bottom of the sink which connects the sink to the pipes. I’ve tried plugging the leak, but it’s too strong.

Can anyone suggest anything?

hi and welcome shane.

i know you are a student in your first place of your own but,

put a bucket under the sink to catch the water, then, unless you have bought the place,

call your land lord to sort it out.

no kiddin, the seal has detatched from the sink itself which is awkward to do any way and it could break the thread, so take no chances and it wont cost you.lol.

 

[Winston]

Is it your house or are you renting mate, if renting get your landlord. And dont admit anything you have disturbed the sink waste hence the leak, old sink I take it.

What you have done is correct but sounds like its further down the pipe Get a plumber in mate it will be a doddle and not your problem.

 

[shaneo85]

Thanks for the quick replies, much appreciated.

My landlord is in hospital at the moment and I'd hate to have to ring him if there's something I might be able to do myself?

Am I right in thinking that there is a blockage somewhere further down the pipes and this is leading to the leak in the seal directly under the sink?

 

[Bernie2]

No they are two separate things. A waste pipe system should not really leak, unless you have got one of those anti vac traps on with the button stuck open.

Have you removed the actual trap itself and cleaned that out?

If its not that and its not the pipe, then all it leaves is the main pipe or grid to be blocked.

The leak could be as Redsaw says, the washbasin washer.

 

[danielp]

the white u bend is a trap the connection to the metal thread (waste)is by a plastic nut on this there is a washer make sure it is there and pushed up to mate with the surface of the metal thread tighten the nut up making sure it tightens straight they are easy to go on wrong and result in leaking hope this helps

 

[shaneo85]

No they are two separate things. A waste pipe system should not really leak, unless you have got one of those anti vac traps on with the button stuck open.

Have you removed the actual trap itself and cleaned that out?

If its not that and its not the pipe, then all it leaves is the main pipe or grid to be blocked.

The leak could be as Redsaw says, the washbasin washer.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm sorry but I'm not sure what a 'trap' is or a 'anti vac' is.

I've drew a diagram of the sink to better illustrate what I've done.

I've unscrewed A and B and cleaned that section out but it was just full of water. 'Leak' is where it's leaking from, but it didn't start to leak from here until I plunged the sink with the hole covered to stop water coming out.

I havn't unscrewed C yet - shall I?

Thanks once again for the replies.

 

[danielp]

b is the nut i was going in about but it seems you have a leak above that on the waste seal the only way you can cure it or possibly cure it is if you look at the plug hole there will be a flat headed screw thread that goes from the top and hold the underside waste on this needs to be tightened

and what kind of plumber installs a sink into a chair in the corner of the room ?!

 

[REDSAW]

what is the sink made of?.

i hope it is stainless steel,

 

[shaneo85]

haha ok I'm not an artist

I've tried to tighten the screw, it seems to just turn round and round, I've been doing it for about ten minutes now. I tried it the other way while the water was running and I could see it was loosening it so I kept going the way I started. 10 minutes of turning and it's still not tight, and still leaking...

 

[danielp]

could be threaded then it must of already been like this those for that to even come loose best bet is to leave it to a plumber to renew this part and unblock the pipe !

 

[REDSAW]

what is the sink made of?.

i hope it is stainless steel,

if its not stainless you could have dammaged the sink plunging it!

it also sounds like as i stated earlier in the post, the thread has gone in the spiggot and it has got silicon under-neath to fix and seal it.

it needs a new plug hole and fixing properly (& perhaps a new sink too)

this is how to do it.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dijAhBgEgDs[/ame]

 

[shaneo85]

I've managed to fix it

Took all sections on the white pipe out, and there was an alien like substance in the pipe which goes from inside the house to outside. It slid out of the pipe like a foot long sausage. I don't know why but I had this desire to smell it... please don't try that at home.

Connected everything back up now and the water is running through just fine. Check for any leaks, but none.

Thanks once again for the help, even though i've just cost your industry a call out charge

 

[Winston]

Well done shane

 

[REDSAW]

why go to uni?. you could be a plumber on £70k pa?.

 

[pauls]

why go to uni?. you could be a plumber on £70k pa?.

i wish red