Do-it-yourselfer

So this weekend Murphy (as in the one with the Law...ya know, when it's going good, somethings gotta give) was hanging out at our house.

1st of all, I tried to run the garbage disposal with some nasty faux crabmeat down it. The 20 year old disposal was on the fritz (unbenownst to me) and said crabmeat went into the drain...and stayed there. Then stinky nasty water started leaking through the disposal. The smell was AWFUL!

So S.O. says "call a plumber". I said "no too expensive". So I proceeded to Google such phrases as "clogged kitchen sink", "leaking through bottom of disposal" etc. Most of the things they suggested, we had already tried so I went out and bought a drain auger/pipe snake. This is basically a manual "Roto-Rooter" tool that you insert and turn to free the clog.

~Sidenote: there are tons of enviro-friendly ways to clear drains, try these before using any chemicals.

So I spent most of Saturday under the sink, unscrewing pipes, poking around with the auger and pulling out bits of nasty crabmeat (seriously, vomit...this is why plumbers get the big bucks!). It was then determined through internet research and the fact that the inside of the disposal appeared to have rust in it, that we should invest in a new disposal.

So we did. And despite S.O.'s grumbling that he doesn't know anything about plumbing or electricity, I left him alone to figure it out. Several trips to the hardware store and much cursing later, he did it!!!

Sadly, the drain was still clogged far into the wall. After trying LITERALLY every green method possible...we broke down and bought the Draino. Yuck. Never again.

I will do environmental penance...any ideas?

Point is, that although it was a bit frustrating and time consuming, we spent under $100 to fix our drain and replace the disposal. With a little research and common sense, you can DIY!!