Comments on: How does plumber know the “toilet jack/snake” is at the right pipe when they work in kitchen drains?

By: Ayana4

Ayana4 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 08:54:24 +0000

96% of all plumbing is the same in every house. And if you have a working knowledge of how pipes are plumbed you have a good idea. You can pretty much figure out where problems can/will occur. The other 4% is the unknown of what someone has done to the piping over the years.

By: Quentin Thornton

Quentin Thornton — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:08:16 +0000

If the kitchen sink drain is clogged then you can drop down through the vent from the roof, assuming you having access to the roof and vent. In so doing you are coming down from the top and would go all the way on through to the drain. If you remove the trap and look in the drain with a flashlight you should see a fitting going down or sideways, if it is going sideways then it is possible to go up the vent, in which case you can bend a small kink on the end of the cable, make sure it is pointed down and then keep the cable positioned with the kink pointing down and then you should make the bend. The kink on the end of the cable will also help clean the drain better because of a 1/4″ of 3/8″ diameter going throug the line the kink will now give the cable a larger/wider cleaning area. Best of luck.

By: Derick Desborough

Derick Desborough — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 15:14:17 +0000

Yes, it’s all sound and feel.
I’ve watched them work and they hit the wrong pipe just as often as anyone else but will go back in at various angles until they “feel” the correct pipe or can hear it.
It’s especially time consuming and frustrating when the pipes (especially on older construction) incorporate 90 degree turns, but you have to keep at it until you hit the right one.

By: Cason Andrew

Cason Andrew — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 16:21:38 +0000

I’m not a plumber, but they don’t have any better sense of what’s plugged than we do, in my opinion. Snake one side, if that doesn’t work, snake the other. Plumbers might remove the traps, which we may not be inclined to do, that’s all I can think of.