Unclog A Drain

Tools:

coil snake
flat snake
large pipe wrench
towel
electric drill
pair of rubber gloves
lubricant to remove rusted bolts

1. First find the access point for the main drain line. Sometimes it's under a house in the crawl space, sometimes it's sticking out of an exterior wall. Coat the nut with penetrating oil (figure A) and remove it using the pipe wrench (figure B).

2. Take the coil snake, loosen the locking collar and slide the snake into the drain until it encounters resistance. Once it hits an obstruction, turn the locking collar and begin turning the crank, which will cause the tip of the snake to slowly chew its way through the clog (figure C).

3. For greater clog-busting power, remove the hand crank and hook a power drill up to the shaft of the snake (figure D). Squeeze gently on the trigger and carefully start drilling away at the clog.

4. Unlock the shaft and start retracting the cable back into the canister. Oil the cable as it is retracted to prevent it from rusting.

5. You may want to use a flat snake now to make sure the clog is no more. A flat snake works similar to the coil snake, except it has a flat shaft and a pointed barb or spear on the end (figure E). Insert the flat snake and push it through the drain by hand.

6. Retract the flat snake. Wipe down the snake with oil as it comes out of the drain to inhibit rust.

7. Close up the drain and tighten with the pipe wrench. Go inside and run the dishwasher and see if the drainage problem is solved.