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If you have a sink that drains slowly or doesn't drain at all you can try this before calling a plumber.

First you must loosen the P-Trap and remove from the wall drain. Most drains are 1 1/2" pipe. Get your hose pipe and push it into the wall drain pipe until it stops. Then get an old towel or dish rag and stuff it completely around the hose pipe and into the wall drain pipe. Keep pushing the rag in around the hose pipe using a screwdriver.

When you have the rag pushed in securely around the hose pipe it won't let water back up and run back out the drain pipe. Hold the rag with your hands and have someone turn the hose water on full blast. If water can't back out of the drain pipe then it must be forced down the drain to unclog it.

Let the water run for a bit to force the clog loose and wash it on down the drain. Sometimes there may be a need to screw a cap on the wall drain and take your hose pipe up on the roof and push it down the vent pipe for the drain your are working on and repeat this procedure in the drain pipe. With the wall drain capped off then the forced water will work through the vent pipe also.

This procedure works and I have used it many times. An old school plumber friend of mine showed me how to do this. The philosophy of it is, that drain water is just a gravity pull downwards in the drain pipe and can clog up. But the hose pipe water has force behind it and if the water can't back out of the pipe then it is forced down the drain, along with the clog.

Things To Remember:

• Stuff the rag in the pipe good and tight so the water can't back out.
• Have someone with you to turn the hose water on and off for you.
• If you have a problem with leakage just bend the hose and stop the water.

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