Blocked sink or drain: what to do step by step
If the kitchen sink, the basin or the shower won't drain, first count how many drains are playing up: just one is nearly always a blockage in its trap and gets fixed at home in a quarter of an hour; several at once point to the pipework or the building's soil stack. We start cheap, with no chemicals.
Step 1 of 4
How many drains are playing up right now?
Run the tap a little at each one: kitchen sink, basin, shower or bath, and flush the toilet. See whether the water goes down normally, slowly or not at all. This tells you more than anything else in the test. If only one drain fails, the blockage is close by, in its trap or the first stretch of pipe. If several fail at once, the blockage is further down, where those pipes have already joined.
One drain or several: the question that decides everything
When just one drain is playing up, the blockage is close: in the kitchen sink trap, the basin trap or the shower grille. That gets fixed at home with a plunger and a bucket. When several fail at once, the blockage is where those pipes join, further away, and that needs tools you won't find in a drawer. And when dirty water comes up by itself through the shower tray, the problem usually affects the whole building.
What works and what doesn't
A plunger clears a lot of kitchen sink and basin blockages if it's used properly: with water in the bottom so it seals and with the overflow covered. Opening and cleaning the trap clears nearly all the rest. Hot water from the tap helps with grease, but boiling water is not a good idea in plastic drains.
Chemical drain unblockers are the option that causes the most trouble. If they don't clear the pipe, the product stays inside, and whoever opens the trap afterwards meets it. Mixing different products can give off toxic fumes. If you use them, just one, with gloves and goggles, and follow the label.
When the blockage isn't yours
In a block of flats, the soil stack (bajante) and the drainage network are common elements. If the blockage is there, repairing it is a matter for the owners' association (comunidad de propietarios), and what you need to do is tell the property manager (administrador de fincas). In a house with no neighbours everything is yours up to the connection to the street sewer, and the inspection chamber is the first place to look.
What we do
Tell us which drains are playing up, what you've tried and whether you've poured in any product, with photos of the trap or the floor drain. We give you a fixed price in writing, usually in under two hours, and an independent professional who works with us comes to your home. If the blockage belongs to the owners' association, we tell you so and we don't charge you as if it were yours. What the market usually charges for a plumber's visit in Valencia is in how much a plumber charges in Valencia.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pour boiling water down to unblock the kitchen sink?
Better not. Nearly all household drains are plastic, and the seals and traps aren't designed to take boiling water poured straight in. To help with grease, hot water from the tap is enough, left running for a while. If the water is standing, hot water won't reach the blockage and only fills the sink further.
Is it dangerous to use caustic soda or chemical drain unblockers?
They can burn your skin and eyes, and if the pipe doesn't clear the product stays inside, in the water that then has to be handled. Never mix two different products, or bleach with hydrochloric acid or ammonia, because they give off toxic fumes. If you've already poured something in and it's still blocked, don't open the trap and say which product it is.
Why is dirty water coming up through the shower tray?
Because water from somewhere else in the flat, or from another flat, can't get down and looks for a way out through the lowest drain, which is usually the shower. If it happens when you're not using anything, the blockage is very likely in the building's soil stack, which is a common element. Tell the property manager as soon as you can.
Who pays to clear the soil stack in a block of flats?
The soil stack and the building's drainage network are common elements, so repairing them is the responsibility of the owners' association (comunidad de propietarios). The section running from your traps to the soil stack belongs to your flat and is yours to pay for. If it isn't clear where the blockage is, whoever clears it can tell you by following where the water goes.