Husband poured boiling water down bathroom sink, huge row!

[ThatLilacHedgehog]

I have a blocked bathroom sink upstairs, my husband tried pouring kettle boiling water down the sink, I told him not to, but when he poured it, smoke from the boiling water was coming out from where the pipes are no water appears to be leaking, just steam from the pipes.

has my husband caused problems? Am I being unreasonable in being angry with him?

could the boiling hot water have melted or caused a leak in the pipes?

I think you should probably apologise and then go and do a bit of simple research on basic household plumbing.

Kitchen pipework is made of exactly the same stuff as bathroom pipework.

Hot water does not turn into smoke, it turns into steam.

If your pipes were damaged by boiling water, something was horrifically wrong with them in the first place, totally unrelated to the boiling water.

@Packingboxesneeded
I’m always a bit nervous of caustic soda, I’ve got a secret bottle (secret as the other adults I live with can be a bit less cautious than me) I bet you were in absolute shock after the explosion.

No the is no damage, sure it probably didn't work but why the need for the dramatics?

Same way vinegar and bicarb in a kitchen sink does nothing

Smoke, you say? 🚬

I use water from the kettle and a couple of scoops of vanish. Usually works and if not, won't hurt the person who has to tackle the sink trap.

As another poster says, the joints in bathroom plumbing are designed to be watertight, not steam tight. The plastic used has a melting point of 160C-190C. Boiling water cannot get above 100C at normal atmospheric pressure. He will not have caused any damage. Indeed, very hot water is one of the best ways of unblocking a blocked drain, so he did the right thing. You are being very unreasonable.

No no problems caused here. The drainage in the kitchen and bathroom are generally made from the same materials.

Being a bathroom blockage as a previous poster said it's likely to be hair and soap etc. Best course of action is to remove the trap/u-bend/other pipe work directly under the sink (with a bucket or washing up bowl underneath) and clean it manually. If by chance that's clear it may be that the shower has blocked up again remove the trap if it's accessible or go in through the shower drain.

What on earth?

Is it not more probable that the steam came from the boiling water that was just poured down?

Rather than condensation on the outside of pipes suddenly rising up through the pipes as steam?

I’m off to take my fish for a walk again

YABU. We've had a plumber in to clear a bathroom drain and that is exactly what he told us to do.

It's water. In a sink that water goes into.

@ThatLilacHedgehog I think you should just admit you're wrong and apologise.

I'd probably just get some sink unblocker tomorrow.

I Always use a dishwasher tablet and a kettle of hot water!

He hasn’t made any mistake. He’s done a sensible thing. When you use your kitchen sink don’t you sometimes pour boiling water down? It does not melt the pipes.

God there are some bitchy people out tonight.

I think the OP has the message by now, no need to compete in how mean you can be in delivering it…

It went from bad to worse. I heard the crack and the smoky plume of caustic fumes rose up from the pan. I thought the cracking sound was the pan cracking. I checked it all over thoroughly and not as much as a hairline crack. I flushed the loo and lo and behold the blockage had cleared . I only realised after 24 hrs of several flushes that the pipe under the floor was disconnected and basically the toilet was flushing and emptying the contents under the floor 🙈

Eh? I do this all the time! You stick some baking soda and vinsegar or equivalent down then pour boiling water down later.

The steam is because it's hot...

Same.

You should really apologise to him, OP.

Nah, I think calling out such pure and obvious stupidity is a public service

Where do you drain the water when you cook pasta or noodles or boil veggies, if not down the sink? Pipes, all water pipes in a house, are built to withstand boiling water, it's one of the things they're designed to do.

I love how she blocked the pipe but the husband is the dickhead… 🙄

You actually should not pout boiling water into the sink if you have PVC pipes, as the OP does. They aren't designed to withstand that level of heat and can melt - however, that is only likely to occur if you regularly pour boiling water down them, the risks from doing it one a one-off occasion are vanishingly small.

I don’t do this often.. but I’m on the husband’s side this time 😂

What’s wrong with folk tonight? Give the OP a break FFS.