The short answer
Plunge it first, then take the P-trap off and clean it out. That’s the order, and it clears most sink clogs we see in Northern Virginia homes. If you’d rather not lie on the cabinet floor with a bucket, our $99 drain clearing covers a blockage up to the P-trap. If more than one drain in the house is slow, skip all of this and read how to tell a fixture clog from a main line clog, because nothing you do at one sink fixes that.
Step 1: Run hot tap water and look at what it does
Pull out the stopper or strainer and wipe off what’s on it. A bathroom stopper full of hair is sometimes the whole clog. Then run hot tap water for a minute. Skip the boiling kettle: it can soften plastic drain fittings and it doesn’t do much a hot tap can’t. If the water drains slowly, keep going. If it doesn’t drain at all, stop running it.
$99 Drain Clearing
This offer focuses on clearing a blockage up to the P-trap, the curved section of drainpipe beneath the sink where debris can collect. See the drain clearing
Step 2: Plunge it the right way
Use a flat cup plunger, the kind for sinks, with a couple of inches of water in the bowl so the plunger pushes water and not air. Then close off whatever lets the pressure escape:
- Bathroom sink: stuff a wet rag in the overflow hole near the rim.
- Double kitchen sink: plug the other bowl with its stopper or a wet rag, and have someone hold it down.
- Sink with a dishwasher: clamp the dishwasher’s drain hose if you can reach it, so the clog doesn’t get pushed up the hose.
Give it 15 to 20 hard pumps, pull off fast, and see if the water drops. Try it two or three times. If you’ve got a disposal, run it first and press its reset button if it just hums. A jammed disposal looks a lot like a clogged drain.
Step 3: Clean out the P-trap
The P-trap is the curved pipe under the sink. Its low spot is where debris settles, so this is where the plunger’s job ends and yours begins.
- Put a bucket under it and empty the cabinet. There’s water in that curve, and it’s going to come out.
- Loosen the two big slip nuts, one on each end of the curve. Plastic ones turn by hand. Chrome may need pliers with a rag around the nut.
- Pull the curved piece off, dump it in the bucket and clean it out with an old brush. Not in that sink.
- Put it back with the washers in the same spots and tighten by hand, then a little more on chrome. Overtightening cracks plastic nuts.
- Run water and watch the joints for a full minute with a dry paper towel under them.
When to stop
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| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| The trap is glued together, with no slip nuts | Cutting it out is a repair. Call us. |
| Chrome that’s thin, green or crumbling at the nuts | It’ll likely break when you turn it. Call us. |
| The trap came out clean and the sink is still slow | The clog is past the trap, in the arm or the wall. Past this point, it’s a different job and a different price. |
| The tub gurgles when the sink drains, or the toilet bubbles | That’s a shared line or the main. Stop running water and call. |
| You already poured a chemical cleaner in it | Don’t plunge it and don’t open the trap. It can splash. Tell your plumber what you used. |
What to skip
Baking soda and vinegar make a good science fair volcano and a poor drain tool. They can freshen a smelly drain, but they rarely move a real clog. Chemical cleaners sometimes burn a small hole through a clog, and when they don’t, you’ve got a sink full of caustic water to deal with. A cheap plastic zip tool, the barbed strip from the hardware store, does more for a bathroom sink than any bottle does. More on that in why a bathroom sink drains slowly.
Kitchen sinks have their own culprit: grease. It goes down warm, cools in the pipe and catches everything after it. Here’s what to keep out of the kitchen drain when the house is full.
The $99 drain clearing
This offer focuses on clearing a blockage up to the P-trap, the curved section of drainpipe beneath the sink where debris can collect. It’s a good starting point for a localized sink clog. If the problem is farther down the line, we’ll explain what’s happening and discuss the next step.
Offer scope: Up to the P-trap. Deeper drain or main sewer-line work is a separate service, and we’ll give you that price before we start.
Deeper work usually runs $200 to $800 at a single fixture. You’ll hear that number before we start, and you can say no. Our drains and sewer page has the rest of the prices.
Common questions
How do you unclog a sink without chemicals?
Plunge it with a cup plunger and a couple of inches of water in the sink. If that doesn’t move it, put a bucket under the P-trap, take the trap off and clean it out. Those two steps clear most sink clogs.
Does baking soda and vinegar unclog a drain?
It fizzes and it can freshen a smelly drain, but it rarely moves a real clog of hair or grease. Hot tap water and a plunger will do more.
Are drain cleaning chemicals bad for pipes?
Used now and then they usually won’t hurt sound pipe, but they’re hard on old metal traps, and when they don’t work you’ve got a sink full of caustic water. Don’t plunge after pouring one in, and tell your plumber it’s there.
How much does it cost to have a plumber unclog a sink?
Our drain clearing is $99 for a blockage up to the P-trap. A clog farther down the line is a separate service, usually $200 to $800 at a single fixture, and we give you that price before we start.
Book it
Book the $99 drain clearing or call (703) 997-9757, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Rated 5.0 stars across 1,138 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook, Virginia Class A license 2705192276.
