There are few household annoyances that compare with the experience of dirty water backing up in your kitchen sink while you’re trying to wash the dishes after dinner. The gurgling, the standing water, the smell — it all adds up to a nuisance that turns an otherwise simple chore into an all-out battle. Kitchen sink backups are one of the most common plumbing issues homeowners face, but most backups are preventable and many of them are straightforward to clear.
Your kitchen sink is one of the most-used drains in your home. Debris from food, grease, soap, and just about everything else that you might wash down the kitchen sink drain make those drains prone to failure. Knowing why your kitchen sink keeps backing up is the first step to finding a solution that works.
The Most Common Reasons Your Kitchen Sink Backs Up
Grease and oil top the list of common causes of kitchen sink backups. When you pour oil into a pan, or wash greasy dishes, that oil doesn’t just vanish down your drain. Instead, it cools and congeals in your pipes, forming a grease trap that catches everything else over time. Eventually, it builds up into an impenetrable plug that not even water can push through.
Food debris is another common cause of kitchen sink backups, even in homes that use a garbage disposal. Items like rice, pasta, coffee grounds, and peels from vegetables can all accumulate in your drain pipes. They tend to cling to existing grease in the pipes and form a dense mass that only thickens with every trip through the garbage disposal.
Soap may seem like an unusual addition to this list, but soap can back up, too. Combined with grease, it makes an especially stubborn mixture. Most bar soaps contain fats that can solidify in your drain just like the grease from your cooking.
Another reason your drain keeps backing up could be that it was improperly engineered for your home. Older homes often have narrower drain pipes than those designed these days. It’s also possible that the slope of your drain pipes isn’t steep enough for optimal draining.
How to Clear a Backed Up Kitchen Sink
If your sink backs up, your first instinct may be to reach for a bottle of chemical drain cleaner. The only problem with this solution is that chemical cleaners can make the problem worse and do serious damage to your plumbing and the environment.
Hot water flushes work on many kitchen sinks that back up due to grease-related issues. Just boil some water in your kettle or on the stove and pour it down the sink in batches. The hot water will melt the grease that’s causing the blockage and be replaced by whatever standing water is in your sink.
The classic baking soda and vinegar combo is still a reliable method for clearing out drains. Pour about half a cup of baking soda down the drain, then about a cup of white vinegar. Plug the drain with a rag for about half an hour, then flush with hot water. The chemical reaction can help melt organic matter and loosen many blockages.
Using a plunger designed specifically for sinks is another way to clear out a backed-up sink. Make sure you create a good seal before plunging down firmly in a rhythmic motion. Plungers work best when the blockage is close to the surface of your plumbing system.
If you encounter a serious blockage that these methods don’t resolve, you should consider calling in a plumber. A hydro jetting plumber uses high-pressure jets of water to clear all types of blockages from your drain systems. Hydro jetting is typically the best option if your blockage results from heavy grease build-up or multiple blockages in various areas of your drain system.
How to Prevent Backed Up Kitchen Sinks
The best way to treat backed-up kitchen sinks is to make sure that they never happen in the first place. A few simple prevention practices can keep your sinks (and drains) clean and clog-free.
Never pour grease or oil down your kitchen sink. Let it cool in the pan first and scrape it into an old container that you can toss when it’s full. You can do the same with liquid cooking oils.
Put a mesh strainer over your kitchen sink drain to catch any bits of food that fall off of your dishes while you wash them. Mesh strainers are inexpensive and easy to use; just remember to empty it after every dishwashing session — but DON’T dump it down the drain!
If you have a garbage disposal, run hot water through it while it’s grinding food and for about 10 seconds after you turn it off to make sure any floating bits of food are washed away.
Like many kitchen appliances, dispose of organic materials properly by tossing them in the trash instead of sending them through your garbage disposal. Don’t put whole vegetables through your garbage disposal, as well as items with thick skins, like bananas or avocados.
Avoid sending fibrous foods (like corn husks) and ends of stalks (like celery) through your garbage disposal, as these create dense clogs.
One thing you can do periodically to prevent grease build-up in your pipes is to flush them with hot water once a week. Boiling a large pot of water and dumping it down your kitchen sink will clear out build-up before it becomes a significant issue.
Keep in mind what you send through your garbage disposal. Avoid sending starchy food like rice and pasta through your garbage disposal, as they can swell when wet and create blockages in your plumbing system.
When to Call a Plumber
If you’ve been suffering from kitchen sink backups for a while or if the backups you clear keep coming back shortly after, there are likely some underlying problems only a professional plumber can solve.
If multiple sinks in your home are backing up at the same time, there’s likely an issue with your main sewer line rather than just one singular issue with your kitchen sink drain.
If various drains in your house are experiencing issues even if you’re not using them regularly, there’s likely a problem with one of your main drain lines.
If one or multiple areas in your home stink even though they aren’t currently backed up, there’s likely an issue with something stuck in the deep areas of one or more of your drains. Instead of trying to snake these difficult-to-reach areas yourself, let someone else do all the heavy lifting!
Treat your drainage systems (and yourself!) with respect and you’ll avoid problems with kitchen sinks and drains in the future!
Kitchen sink backups are one plumbing issue that doesn’t have to plague homeowners during their ownership. With the right care — from both yourself and professionals — you can get your kitchen flowing again.
Hopefully addressing issues with sink backups before they become costly emergencies requiring repairs or replacements can save you time (and money!) throughout your time as an owner!
