Metal Drain Auger, 50 FT

Story time. Months ago, the particle board underlayment in our kitchen floor began to swell and soften---just in spots, at first, along the joints and and near the cabinets. But it spread. The undulations could be felt underfoot, soleful messages that something's not right down there. Some vinyl tiles loosened. "We're splashing too much water from the sink," I guessed.Then we noticed that water was seeping from the cracks between the vinyl tiles even after days of not splashing anything on the floor. "Something is leaking," we realized, with that little feeling of dread and the "oh no" thoughts that come with a realization like that: "How bad is it? Is it going to be something bigger than I can handle myself? What kind of damage is it doing? What's this going to cost? Is the floor rotting? Are we going to punch through and find ourselves standing knee deep in our kitchen?"I grabbed a flashlight and investigated. I got down on the floor and pulled the skirt from the front of the dishwasher and felt around with my bare hand---carefully, avoiding electrical wires. The floor under the left side of the dishwasher was wet, so I presumed the dishwasher was the source of the leak. The machine had a few years on it, and I wasn't interested in searching for parts to repair it. I wasn't too thrilled about shelling out a few hondos for a new one either, but I chose that as the quickest and easiest fix. I found one on sale---a lesser model, a downgrade from the one we were replacing---at a local big box home improvement store.But a few weeks after installing the new dishwasher, the floor was still wet. It's not my favorite thing to do, but I suited up like an astronaut and wriggled into the crawlspace under the kitchen floor to investigate.I shined a light across the top of the concrete block foundation on the side of the house under the kitchen sink. A ten-foot length of the sill of the house was wet along its bottom edge. Stained dark, it looked to have been wet for some time. I couldn't spot an obvious point of entry for the water. After an exterior inspection, I assembled some clues and tried to deduce the source of the problem: A valley of the roof terminated right over the area. I also noted that a drain vent stack poked up through the roof right next to the valley. A wrinkled soffit panel under the eave looked to have taken some water damage. I theorized that water was slowly entering by a leak in the valley or around the vent stack, then making its way down between the wall and exterior brick veneer, and from there soaking into the floor.I rigged safety lines (I always do), set up a ladder, climbed onto the roof, and smeared around a couple of gallons of Henry's roof patch, making sure to spread it generously under the shingle tabs and the flashing around the vent stack. It was a bright, hot day. I remember that.A rainless week or two later, the floor was still wet. Befuddlement and more head scratching ensued. This time we guessed the supply line to the refrigerator's ice maker was the culprit, even though the fridge was on the other side of the kitchen. Maybe the line was leaking and the water was wicking between the subfloor and particle board and finding its way across the kitchen and making its way up and out. We pulled the refrigerator away from the wall and took a look. Dry as a bone.Finally, finally, I began to put things together. The kitchen sink drain exits through the wall behind the sink, takes a left, then makes another turn down to connect to the waste pipe and vent stack via a wye. The wye is located in the wall above the subfloor, so I couldn't see it from the crawlspace. What was happening, I began to think, was a clog in the main drain pipe below the wye was backing waste water up into the vent stack, but not high enough to back all the way into the sink. Waste water was leaking from the joint of the vent onto the sill and into the floor when it was backed up.I disconnected the P-trap under the sink. A lot of water spilled out of the drain pipe sticking out of the wall. Clog confirmed.I already owned a 25-foot hand-cranked drain snake. I returned to the crawlspace to see if I could loosen the drain pipe's cleanout plug to snake the line. The house's plumbing is over fifty years old, and the plug was stuck fast. I returned to the kitchen and tried snaking the line from under the sink, but the snake couldn't make the three turns to get into the main line."What if I run a snake down from the roof through the vent stack?" I wondered. I knew the drain pipe layout; the snake would only have to make one 45-degree turn instead of three, and there was nothing in the line past that point that could be damaged. But the snake I owned wasn't long enough to do the job.I was already 300-plus dollars into this project with the new dishwasher and roof patching compound. I wasn't too thrilled about spending more money for a longer snake, but I ordered this fifty-footer.Long story longer, I rigged the safety lines again, set up the ladder, and climbed back on the roof. I fed the snake down the mouth of the vent stack, which swallowed it hungrily thanks to some assistance from our good friend gravity. Gravity also added some oomph when I pushed the snake through resistance in the pipe. I first felt some resistance when the head of the snake met the wye and made the turn. Then I felt another spot of resistance. There were no more turns or wyes, so I assume the snake had found the clog. I cranked the drum handle a few times, jogged the line up and down like a plunger, and the resistance gave way. I fed in another few feet of line just to make sure there were no more clogs, then I retracted the snake (eww, grimy). I followed up by pouring a gallon of liquid drain cleaner down the vent stack.After climbing down from the roof, I pulled the full length of snake out of the drum, laid it on the driveway, and sprayed it off with a hose. I left it to dry before pushing it back into the drum.So, here's the review of the snake: It's good. The drum of the snake is metal, and the collar that feeds the snake and holds the thumbscrew is metal too. I noticed complaints in earlier reviews that the collar was plastic and wasn't holding up, so the metal collar must be an upgrade. This snake is not going to chew out any roots, but it will work on typical drain clogs. The included gloves are a bit small, but they're okay. I just used disposable nitrile gloves.The not-so-happy part of all this is I discovered that the drain pipe in the kitchen wall has a leak that still leaks even though the clog has been cleared. So I'll be rerouting the kitchen drain pipe to bypass all that pipe in the wall.The happier ending to this story is that I didn't spend much more than I would have had I called a pro to snake the drain. And the new dishwasher, although a cheaper model than our previous one, outcleans the old one by far. And, judging from the wrinkled eave soffit, the roof probably needed a little patching anyway. And we know there's no leak in the ice maker supply line behind the fridge. And PVC parts to reroute the kitchen sink drain are inexpensive.And I still have a fifty-foot plumbing snake if I need it again.

I had a massive, long term clog somewhere deep under the monolithic slab my house sits on. The 25" snake at Homeless Despot was not long enough, the Roto-Rooter guy was convinced I had a broken pipe under my solid concrete floor and wouldn't touch it. It took some serious work and a lot of cussing but this tool got the job done and I didn't have to jackhammer the floor in my dining room.Pros: value, the snake is sturdy, even 50' down and didn't tie itself in a knot no matter how hard I beat it. It didn't break at allCons: the wingnut to lock the snake is small and tedious to use, I'd have paid extra for a locking lever or even a bigger wingnut, the plastic fore grip feels like it will break and is thin in my hand (I beat this thing, it did not break), the hurricane knob on the back could be a little bigger and should be mounted a little closer to center so you don't smash your knuckles on the wall when spinning it.Overall, this tool saved me a huge headache and a massive amount of money and is something I will always have if I need it.I hope this helps!

Buy THIS ONE if you have a backed up sink.Why?It works. period.Well made - the housing is steel, NOT plastic.Mine has a 50 foot long cable. Don't get cheap and get one with less cable. You WILL need all 50 feet to clear the drain!This one has 1/4" cable. Do NOT get thicker cable because it is too stiff to turn corners when it if fully extended.Comes with gloves. You WILL get muck on your hands so wear gloves. They aren't great, just vinyl dipped knit, but good enough for a use or two.How to: do you have access to a roof vent? If so, keep reading...Run some water into the blocked-up sink. Have a 'helper' on cellphone (speaker) tell you what they observe at the sink.Pull the paper lid off the drum and discard.If you are adventurous and able to do so, go up on the roof. If you fall off, don't blame me :>)Loosen the thumb-screw and pull out a couple of feet of cable and drop it down the vent-pipe.Now, holding the drum directly over the top of the vent pipe, pull out cable and drop it until it stops.You have either found the FIRST blockage, or come to a 90, or a tee.Tighten the thumb-screw with about 6" of cable between the top of the vent and the drum and crank the handle. Don't hold back - CRANK IT!Do NOT have a length of more than 6" of cable between the drum and the vent pipe when cranking, it could kink!!!As soon as either the blockage clears, or the tip navigates past the 90 or tee, you will feel a 'drop'.Loosen the thumb-screw and repeat. And repeat.Be sure to stay in communication with the helper. They will tell you when water drains!!!Go all the way out the full 50 feet, then pull the cable back into the drum.Clean-up and maintenance: do you have a laundry sink? Good... if not a bucket and hose will do.Rinse the cable/drum well with water, then squirt a generous amount of laundry or dish soap in the drum and flood it with water to wash it out real good. If you have a compressor, leaf blower, etc blow it dry, or set it in the sun to drain/dry.Once dry, spray inside with WD-40 or your favorite anti-rust agent. Let dry.Now it is ready for the next use.Read this note twice before work. Good luck!!!!!