I’m now the proud owner of a 4.5 horsepower Shop Vac, the strongest sucking one on the shelf. As you might have guessed, my brother-in-law suggested taking a Shop Vac to the drain, as he’s sucked all manner of weird things out of drains countless times over the years.
Not so for me, I’m afraid. Either there’s nothing stuck in the trap in that pipe, or I can’t get a tight enough seal when I try to put the Shop Vac hose in the hole to suck whatever it is out of there.
Part of the problem is there’s about 8 inches of rigid plastic at the attachment end of the Shop Vac hose and I’m trying to stick it in a drain hole with about 5 inches of clearance above it. Thus, I can’t get the right angle on it and the rigid plastic doesn’t bend. I did get about 2-3 cups of clear water, but no ball of lint, sock or other obstruction.
I did, however, find a hole in the drywall through which a clean-out cap is visible. Hmmmm….I don’t think I’m gonna have any better time with the Shop Vac hose there than I did up where the washer drain hose goes, but I’m gonna give it a whirl.
Then, before I call my brother-in-law back, I’m going to see if I can get a wire coat hanger through the trap. I so wish I had x-ray vision so I could see what my problem is and where. But I don’t, and I can’t, and I’m trying hard to resist the urge to cut away the sheet rock, even though I know how to put it back.
Looks like there’s a good chance some real labor will be occurring around here on Labor Day.
