Emergency Plumber in Jonesboro, GA for Urgent Plumbing Problems

The kitchen is where plumbing gets the hardest use: grease, food scraps, a dishwasher, a disposal and two or three water lines packed into one cabinet. When something fails there, it usually happens mid-meal, with the sink full and the dishwasher running. For Jonesboro households, most kitchen problems can be stopped with a valve and a little know-how, and some turn into an emergency plumbing call. For the ones that cannot wait, Alpha Plumbing and Sewer is reachable 24/7. Here is how to tell which is which.

Water under the sink: find the part that is leaking

Empty the cabinet, dry everything with a towel, and run water briefly while you watch. Leaks tend to come from one of a few places:

• Supply lines and stop valves: water under pressure, dripping even when nothing is running. Close both stops.
• The faucet base or sprayer hose: water appears only when the faucet is on.
• The drain trap and slip nuts: drips only when water goes down the drain.
• The disposal: at the sink flange on top, at the dishwasher hose connection on the side, or from the bottom of the unit.

If the stops will not close or the leak is spraying, close the main shutoff for the house.

A sink that will not drain

When both bowls of a double sink fill up and the dishwasher has just drained into them, the blockage is usually in the shared drain below the sink or farther along the kitchen line. Stop running the dishwasher and the faucet. Plunging can work if you block the other drain opening with a wet rag or a stopper and keep the plunger cup covered with water. If plunging does not clear it, or other drains in the house are also slow, the blockage is in the branch line and calls for drain repair.

Disposal trouble

A disposal that hums but does not spin is usually jammed. Turn it off at the wall switch and, if possible, unplug it or switch off its breaker. Many units have a hex socket in the center of the bottom that you can turn back and forth with the wrench that came with the disposal, and a red reset button on the bottom. Water dripping from the bottom of the unit usually means the housing has cracked, and the disposal needs replacing. Garbage disposal repair and replacement covers jams, leaks and new units.

A dishwasher that floods

Turn the dishwasher off, and if water keeps coming in, close the supply valve under the sink that feeds it, usually the hot stop. Water around the door can come from a worn door seal, too much detergent, or a float stuck in the up position. Water under the unit often means a leaking supply connection or drain hose. If the dishwasher will not drain at all, the drain hose, the air gap on the counter or the disposal connection may be clogged.

Grease is the slow emergency

Cooking grease poured down a drain flows while it is warm and hardens as it cools inside the pipe, catching food particles until the line closes. Pour fat into a can, let it cool, and throw it away. A kitchen line that clogs repeatedly from grease buildup can be cleaned wall to wall with hydro jetting once a camera confirms the pipe is in good enough condition.

Jonesboro permit rules

In Jonesboro, a Clayton County city, the building permit application treats plumbing as a permit of its own, separate from any building permit, and the city charges double when work starts before the permit is issued. A kitchen repair that moves drain or supply piping is the kind of job where that comes up; Jonesboro City Hall building permits can answer questions about a specific address.

Kitchen plumbing questions from Jonesboro homes

Is it ever safe to reach into a disposal?

Not with your hand, even with the switch off. Cut the power at the switch and unplug the unit or turn off its breaker, then use tongs or pliers to pull out a spoon or bottle cap. Freeing a jam is done from underneath with the hex wrench, not by reaching into the grinding chamber.

Why does the sink back up when the dishwasher runs?

The dishwasher drains into the same pipe as the sink, often through the disposal. If that drain is partly blocked, the surge from the dishwasher has nowhere to go but up into the sink. A newly installed disposal with its knockout plug left in place, a clogged air gap, or grease buildup in the line are the usual causes.

Should I use a chemical drain cleaner in the kitchen?

It is better not to. Chemical cleaners rarely dissolve grease and food packed in a trap, they can damage a disposal and some older pipes, and they leave a caustic sink for anyone who has to open the drain afterward. Plunging, clearing the trap, or a drain cable are safer choices.

Sink full and nothing draining

Phone Alpha Plumbing and Sewer at (404) 409-4448 and keep the dishwasher off until the drain is open.