Why is My Sink Gurgling?

Does your sink reply with a gurgling noise when you drain it? Or maybe you hear a gurgling noise coming from your toilet when you use the shower?

Regardless of where the gurgling sound is coming from, no part of your plumbing system is meant to gurgle. Let’s take a look at some possible causes, and how you can fix a gurgling sink drain.

What Causes My Gurgling Sink?

There are a few different reasons your sink drain might be making a gurgling sound. The cause will determine what action you need to take to fix it.

You Have Incorrectly Installed Vent Pipes

If you only hear your kitchen sink gurgling when you drain water from that sink, the drain’s vents are the likely culprit.

It might be that the original plumber didn’t correctly install the vent pipe system in the first place. For a 1.5-inch drain pipe, the vent should be fitted 3.5 feet from the lower part of the drain. If this is not the case, the vent might be creating a vacuum in your drain. This can make air movement audible, which could be the cause of your gurgling drains.

Repairing this will need the experienced hands of a professional plumber though.

Or You Have A Blockage In The Vent Pipes

Your plumbing system has vent pipes that allow sewer gases to safely escape your home. These typically run up and out through your roof.

If your vent system has a blockage somewhere, sewer gas becomes unable to escape through your roof and might be coming back up through your drain. This is a bigger problem than hearing your drain gurgling. In large concentrations, these main sewer line gases can be extremely flammable and even explosive!

So if you hear any strange gurgling noises coming from your drains in combination with sewer smells, you need an emergency plumber out to repair this issue promptly.

You Have A Broken Or Clogged Sink Drain P-Trap

Underneath bathroom sinks, usually in the cabinet, is the P-trap. This is a part of the drain that prevents debris from entering your plumbing system.

If the P-trap becomes damaged or even breaks, this can cause a clog in your drain that can result in gurgling sounds. A build-up of grease and other debris in here can also cause clogs that might be the cause of your gurgling drain.

The best way to prevent your P-trap from developing clogs is to regularly clean it out. To do this, you’ll need to disassemble the P-trap. Using either a wire coat-hanger straightened out or a nylon bottle brush cleaner, clean away any debris and grease.

Once completely spotless, you can reassemble it and put it back in place. If your P-traps nuts don’t budge when you try to remove them, or they quickly fall apart, it’s time to buy a replacement trap.

You Have A Partially Clogged Drain

Something as simple as clogged drains may be the cause of your gurgling kitchen sink. Build-ups of food, fat, oil and grease will form blockages that obstruct the flow of water down your drains and could be responsible for any gurgles you’re hearing.

A blocked drain comes with a whole host of other problems, the main one being that your sink won’t drain completely and might even start backing up and out!

While there are store-bought drain cleaners that are meant to dissolve and dislodge these blockages, used incorrectly, these have the potential to eat away at your pipes and drain system. What was meant to solve your gurgling drain issue might only bring about even more issues!

You need a licensed plumber to come to your house to remove the blockage and fix your gurgling problems.

Metropolitan Plumbing has expert plumbers available to restore the peace and quiet of your bathroom drains and get to the bottom of your gurgling sink problems.