Kitchen Drain Clogs in Eden Prairie

Grease, oil and fat are liquid when hot but cool and harden on the pipe walls as they travel down. Each layer catches food scraps and coffee grounds, and over months the pipe narrows until water cannot keep up.

Starchy foods like rice, pasta and potato peels make it worse by swelling into a paste. Eggshells and fibrous scraps such as celery and onion skins can also wrap around disposal blades and collect in the trap.

A disposal that hums without spinning is usually jammed by something hard. Many units have a reset button on the bottom and a hex socket underneath for a wrench to free the blades. Only try this with the power off.

If the disposal runs but the sink still will not drain, the clog is past the disposal in the trap or the wall line. A disposal grinds food into smaller pieces, but those pieces can still settle and build up, so heavy disposal use does not prevent clogs.

Most dishwashers drain through the same pipe as the kitchen sink, often through the disposal. If the sink drain is partly clogged, dishwasher water has nowhere to go and shows up in the sink or stays in the bottom of the dishwasher.

Before calling, check the dishwasher filter, which many models have in the bottom of the tub. If you recently installed a new disposal, make sure the knockout plug for the dishwasher inlet was removed; it is a common cause of a new backup.

A plumber will usually start by pulling and cleaning the trap under the sink, then run a cable through the wall line to reach grease buildup further down. In homes where the kitchen sits far from the main stack, that line can be long.

If the kitchen line clogs repeatedly, they may recommend hydro jetting to clean grease off the pipe walls, or a camera inspection to check for a sag that collects waste. A local plumber serving Eden Prairie will explain what they found and quote any extra work first.

Pour cooled grease into a can or jar and throw it in the trash instead of down the sink. Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing them.

Scrape plates into the trash or compost, use a sink strainer, and run plenty of cold water when the disposal is on. If your sink starts draining slower than usual, get it looked at before a busy cooking day rather than during one.