If you are dealing with a stopped up sink drain, a kitchen sink that just doesn’t want to cooperate or a sink in the bathroom that isn’t draining as quickly as it could or should be, you shouldn’t reach for the phone to call professionals like us here at Silverwater Plumbing just yet – but should instead try to tackle the problem all on your own to save a bunch of time and a bit of money as well!

Some people get a little bit nervous about trying to resolve plumbing issues, and for good reason. Anytime you are dealing with the water running through your home or your plumbing system in general you’re looking at a bit of a tricky situation.

One wrong move could cause extreme damage and an emergency situation that necessitates calling in professionals like our plumbers here at Silverwater Plumbing – and nobody wants to have to deal with an emergency situation caused by a DIY “fix”.

With the tips and tricks below, you won’t ever have to worry about that happening going forward!

Here’s how to unblock a sink

Right out of the gate, you need to address the root core issue of the sink becoming blocked in the first place.

Most of the time, something that doesn’t belong in your plumbing is going to have works its way into your sink (almost always on accident) and caused an obstruction. On the other hand, normal wear and tear on your plumbing system can cause obstructions as well, especially if your plumbing system becomes gummed up by some of the everyday items that are being flushed down the sink.

You’ll have to figure out what that obstruction is so that you can address the issue, flushing out the problem with the solutions we include below to unblock sink drains quickly and without frustration.

The best way to unblock a sink is not with those hazardous chemicals you can pick up at the store, but instead with nothing more than a pot of boiling water, a good old-fashioned coathanger that has been straightened out, and a little bit of time and patience – and perhaps a plunger (specifically purchased and only ever used on your sinks, at that)!

Right out of the gate, you’ll want to boil up in a pot of water and then begin slowly pouring that boiling water down the drain to soften and loosen any obstructions. If you’re dealing with a relatively minor issue, this will almost always unblock sink drain problems all on its own – but if the obstruction is a little bit more stubborn you’ll have to break out the straightened coathanger.

This is perhaps the best way to unblock a sink when you’re dealing with a more serious obstruction, as it allows you to push that coathanger down the sink and through the plumbing, feeling around and probing until you break up the obstruction and clear the pipes.

If that still doesn’t work, you can grab a miniaturized plunger that you can pick up at any the hardware or department store and begin plunging the sink the way you would a toilet. This should push any of the obstructions through your plumbing and break up the obstruction, and is one of the best sink unblocker solutions around.

At the end of day, if nothing else is working, grabbed the phone and give us a ring here at Silverwater Plumbing. We’ll handle the heavy lifting for you, get your sink working perfectly again, and won’t blow up your budget along the way.