My bathroom sink has a major clog and its in the wall so we would have to gut the bathroom to get it out. This bathroom is slowly falling apart. Already had the pipe in the shower get a hole, now major clog in sink. I suppose the toilets next.
Should I call a plumber or is someone else needed? and can you make payments to plumbers?
My husband says it a major remodel. My neighbor came over and replaced the pipes under the sink in case it was just in one of those. Well, last week I said the cabinet had a puddle in it and husband says the clog is in the wall. No big deal, I can just lay an old towel in the bottom of the cabinet and change it every couple days. Tonight I went in there and the towel was sopping wet that I could have wrung it out 5 times. I told husband and he says, oh, I guess I'll replace the pipe. I told him I wasn't chaning a sopping towel all the time and its ruining the cabinet. I don't understand why things like clogged sinks and shower pipes with holes get put on the back burner. This is the main bathroom for guests and he doesn't care. WEll, I do. I do so much around this house and he does nothing at all, in fact, the hole in the pipe in the shower went 5 years without being fixed and the only reason it got fixed was because the in-laws were coming to stay with us and my FIL can't do steps very well. My husband is very lazy and very shovenistic. I get so fed up sometimes. He makes way more money than me but his recreational activities are way more important than anything else.
My husband is going to get back in the wall tonight and get the clog out and buy some better pipes. I honestly never thought to turn off the water under the sink. He usually lets things go until I become a crazed maniac and tell him that I'm calling a repair person. I probably came off like a troll type person. I am on vacation this week so we could have gotten a plumber in here while I'm home to take care of this. He doesn't like spending any money at all. I will try the enzyme cleaner.
His family believes that the woman is to do all the housework and take care of the kids and you get married and pregnant right after high school. He tends to act like that. The longer we are married, the more we are getting along better.
THanks again mommas for setting me straight and for the wonderful advice.
Call a plumber. A clog in the pipe in a wall doesnt have to mean a total remodel. They know how to get to it with their equipment. Sure they will cost you money, but a soaking wet floor, cabinet and molding towels cant be a good exchange. Just call a plumber yourself and pay them.
You can turn the water off for that sink if you don't care if it's fixed.
I also suggest that fixing a clogged pipe in the wall does not mean having to do a major remodel. We had a clogged pipe in the wall that prevented us from getting water and so it's a different problem than yours tho the fix is the same. My cousin cut a 12" square hole in the wall, turned off the water at the main, drained the pipe, cut a chunk out and replaced the pipe with a new one. I think for yours, since it's the drain that's plugged you'd gain access to the down pipe and unplug that.
When I think about your situation I do think it would be best to call a plumber. I'm not sure that a plugged down pipe would be the cause. That pipe is large. The drain pipes outside the wall is much smaller. Nothing could be released into the down pipe that would plug it because it wouldn't get thru the initial pipes.
Did you try putting a snake thru the pipes? I also recently had a plumber come out and snake all of our drains because they were draining slow. The snake is a wire that is several feet long and would go into the pipe in the wall.
My wall is papered and so it was just a matter of not cutting the paper and then letting it back down to cover the hole. Eventually we'll patch the hole with dry wall.
Later: After thinking about this. What you've reported isn't making sense. If the pipe in the wall is plugged then the sink wouldn't drain at all unless there were a hole in the pipes. And for the water to be draining under the sink and not in the wall, there has to be a leak in the pipes under your sink. There has to be a hole/leak somewhere for water to be under your sink.
I suggest that the problem could be that you need new washers in the knobs that turn off the water under the sink. The leak could be from the incoming water pipes instead of the drain.
I also don't understand why you're using the sink if the water is leaking under the sink. Turn the water off. There are two knobs for hot and cold water under the sink and in the wall. Just turn the water off. If you can't turn it off then you know there is a problem with the pipes outside the wall.
I would just call a plumber without telling my husband. At least your husband's ire would be short lived because the problem would be resolved. By letting this go on and on you're having bad feelings over and over. One big explosion because you called a plumber and you'll have the satisfaction of having the job done.
Just call a plumber. They might be able to snake the pipes and get the clog out.
I don't know that plumbers take payments, but they often give free estimates to diagnose the problem. It might not be nearly as serious as you think.
Can't speak to your marital issues, but just call a plumber.
I agree with Marda. You can turn the water off under the sink until it gets fixed. You can't keep a towel down there.... it will start to get moldy under the sink and then that poses a health problem. It's probably moldy already because the water most likely has seeped into the wood and under the cabinet... and perhaps into the wallboard.
A couple of my bathroom sinks had leaks recently. We live in a 50-year-old home. Leaks happen. Things wear out. In one case it was the washers in the knobs and water was leaking under the sink. It was a $200 fix to buy a new faucet and have a plumber install it. It probably wouldn't cost you as much if you bought a cheaper faucet. Our other bathroom was a drain pipe leak and it had to be rodded out and replaced with plastic pipe. That was a little more than $100.
I say bite the bullet and call a plumber. You don't want your floors, cabinets and walls ruined by seeping water. And you don't want mold.
We just had a leak repaired, but it wasn't clogged; the pipes had separated. I thought it was going to be several thousand dollars to repair because I thought it was a foundation leak, but it ended up being a wall leak near the foundation. It was only $350. The plumber went through the outside wall, and we're replacing siding anyway, so it was no big deal. We were very happy with our plumber. I'm sharing this with you so that if it ends up not being a clog, you'll know it may not be a nightmare.
I like the idea of using the enzyme cleaner first. That may solve your problem. I hope it does.
As for your husband, at some point he's going to have to realize that your house is going to fall down around you if you don't take care of it. He's being ridiculous. I'm sorry you are having to deal with plumbing issues and with your husband. That's awful.
Good luck.
