A couple weeks ago, the drain in my sink clogged. It is a double bowl sink with a drain in each bowl. So I got out two plungers and handed one to my wife and told her to plug one drain while I plunged the other. But she had to hang on hard against the force I was generating. It occurred to me that there ought to be a sink strainer that can be turned into a positive plug to completely stop the other bowl. Does such a thing exist?
I made it somewhat easier for her by filling the bowl with water to add force to her plunger and it turned out to be easy to clear, but still I wondered if there was some way that one person could have done without help.
My understanding is the plunger really works on the pull stroke, not the push, though the back and forth action helps too. For your situation a standard drain stop should work as you pull on the plunger, though you would need to push it first, reset the stopper, then pull. Slower but possible.
Yes, they do exist, you’ll be able to find them at Home Depot. However, they’re just designed to keep some water in the sink while you do dishes and often times they don’t even to a good job at that. I don’t they’ll they’ll work for clearing a clog.
Try to find one that’s just a flat (more or less) piece of stainless steel with rubber going around the outside edge, like the kind that comes with a garbage disposal (if you have one). That’s work much better then the kind that’s meant to work as a strainer as well.
You might be better off jamming a wet rag in the drain basket and having her hold that in there. It’s not airtight, but it could work and it’ll be easier for her to hold.
I want one that screws down tight into the steel widget that lines the drain. Obviously you would want it only when plunging. I think the plunger does its work on both strokes although obviously a standard plug would do the job on the upstroke.
The problem with a standard test plug (or even a cheap imitation from HD) is that they are designed to fit inside a straight-walled pipe - and the shape of a sink’s drain hole is anything but straight-walled.
For those wondering: real plumbers check a drain/waste system by plugging all outlets and then squirting some air into the assembly, and sealing it.
If the pressure is still there the following day, the job is done. If the air has escaped, well, some more work is needed.
Now you know why those weird toilet flanges have a knock-out cover of ABS - sealing a flange would be a chore.
Crude, but might work:
Get a large blob of modelling clay or plumber’s putty, your first attempt at mashed potatoes, whatever
Cover the drain with Saran wrap, and force the blob into the hole. when the blob is even with the bottom of the sink, get a chunk of pliable metal or heavy vinyl (I’d use sheet lead - found near roofing supplies) to cover it. Stack a heavy weight on the lead. You should have a plug that will withstand at least most of a plunger’s push and pull.
Sink and tub drains come in just a few standard sizes, so plugs and strainers are available in those sizes.
Your bigger problem may be that the drain is vented. (You didn’t mention, or else I missed it, if this is a kitchen sink or other kind of sink. Since you said it’s a double sink, that means it’s a kitchen sink? It gets a little more complicated if one of the drains has a garbage disposal.)
Now your typical bathroom sink has a vent in it, which lead to that little overflow opening near the top of the sink. The real reason it’s there is to prevent the draining water from being obstructed by an air bubble in the pipe. If your drain is vented, you need to block that too, to use a plunger to best effect.
My set up is impossible to seal because in addition to the two sink drain holes there is a vent for the dish washer. Rather than plunge out the kitchen sink I just unscrew the p-trap and pull the stoppage out. Takes maybe 2 minutes, including running down to the lowest level of the house to retrieve the bucket. If my kid is around I make him do it so I don’t have to interrupt my cooking.
No disrespect to the OP but I honestly thought that he would be asking some philosophical question about sink plugs, not realizing until later that he wasn’t aware that the physical product really exists.
I even started thinking, “hmm well when it is in use it is filling a hole, maybe in some sense it doesn’t exist anymore?”
