this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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Anyone know how to drain a kitchen sink that's been fucked over by storms? Damn thing stopped draining water today. The last time I did washing up was three days ago, and I draino'd it yesterday.
UPDATE: Cleaned out the sink, pulled apart the pipes and cleaned them too, still not draining properly. Wandered outside to dump a fucktonne of dirty sink water, and found a great big fuck off pool of old water and shit that had flooded out of the grate downstairs. The storm dumped somewhere around 20mm of rain directly on my side of the building, so best guess is the pipes flooded.
Notes for those wondering: second floor apartment in a small, two storey block of units - 70s style brick flats. Toilet and shower are on their own pipes, with kitchen sink and washing machine on the other set (the flooded one). My next stop I believe is the agent, as this is well outside of my control. Hopefully though it all drains out over the next couple days - I don't own a dishwasher, so dishes have gotta be done by hand.
Own or rent? Call the agent?
Single or double? If double might just be a pressure thing. If not, do what MeanE said -- take the U out and have a bucket ready
House or apartment?
In a house, there should be an waste water inspection grate outside near the kitchen. If it's full, the issue is down stream, best to call your local water provider (plumbers will charge you more!!!!) and ask them to check if there's a fault.
Also check your other sinks etc. If they're draining fine, then it's a localised issue....which is good.
If not full then it's possibly the U-bend underneath your sink. Pretty easy to remove and clean. Otherwise you can push a wire through the drain to check if there is a blockage. If there is, remove the U-bend, and clean.
Good luck :)
What I do is open the grate, dig around in there with a broom stick handle, replace the grate, put something heavy on the grate, fill up the bath, sinks etc, block the shower hole, let all plugs out, flush the toilet. Repeat. Then I go and watch the water gush down sewerage pipe from the back of the yard where there's another hole.
There's a proper sewer drain inspection hatch on my neighbours property (which I can see over my fence). When there's a clog, water gushes out of it. The sewer pit is right behind our houses and gets clogged regularly. Once it's past the property line, it's Melbourne Water issued.
They clear it up within hours and spray our yards with antibacterial stuff to kill all the nasties.
That's interesting!
If all your drains are backing up, the issue is definitely downstream and most likely not your responsibility. Unless your sewer pipe on your property gets clogged (which it really shouldn't).
Our issue is that roots etc clog up the sewer pit (where all the street drains connect) and we're the first ones to notice.
I've only had blocked outside drain maybe twice. I do the El Flusho for maintenance.
Have you tried a plunger?