Fix it

Why is my kitchen sink draining slowly?

Kitchen drains die by accumulation: grease that cooled on the pipe walls, catching everything since. Where the clog sits — trap, branch line, or further down — decides whether the fix is under the sink or beyond it.

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Snap a photo or describe what you see and the FinderlyFix assistant tells you what is likely going on, before you spend anything.

What it usually is

  1. Grease and soap lining the trap and branch line

    Warm fats coat pipe walls, harden and narrow the bore year over year. Slowing that has crept up over months is the accumulation pattern.

  2. A clogged disposal or its discharge path

    Fibrous scraps and starches paste up the disposal outlet. If slowness follows heavy disposal use, start there.

  3. The dishwasher tie-in backing up

    Dishwasher discharge enters the same drain; suds or water rising in the sink when it runs points the same direction.

  4. A partial blockage past the wall

    If a plunged, cleaned trap still drains slowly — or another fixture gurgles when the sink empties — the restriction is downstream in the branch or main.

What you can check yourself

Boiling water plus a squirt of dish soap softens fresh grease. Plunge with the second bowl (and dishwasher hose) sealed off. The trap unscrews by hand over a bucket — clear it and inspect the wall stub with a flashlight. Skip chemical openers: they sit in traps, damage older pipe, and complicate the next steps.

When it’s a job for a pro

Slowness that survives a clean trap needs the branch snaked — machine work through the cleanout. Recurring clogs every few months justify a camera look before the next round.

A branch-line snaking typically runs $150 to $350; a camera inspection $150 to $300 when recurrence suggests something structural.

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