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?

Hope you are ok OP, I've had that horrible feeling of using a product on the bathroom that I've previously used in the kitchen, and it going horribly wrong, so I get how you felt. It's the panic. Hope you get it sorted.

smoke from the boiling water was coming out from where the pipes are no water appears to be leaking, just steam from the pipes.

Its stream not smoke.

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

You said there was no leak just steam.

As a one off this is fine, there was steam because he’s just used boiling water. If it was something done daily then you’re likely to start to see problems or leaks.

He was just trying to help no damage done so YABU

Surely the steam must have been the condensation off the pipes? If your pipes weren't water tight you'd know about it.

Boiling water might damage pvc but only if they were fully emersed in boiling water for a period of time. A trickle of boiling water down isn't going to do much.

Let it go!

You had a “huge row” over this?! You sound an utter delight to live with.

It does make you wonder how some people get through the day

My plumber told me to pour boiling water down the bathroom sink and plug hole once a week as a preventative measure.

Smoke? Or steam? Very important difference

I think what you need to ask yourselves is why did you have a huge row over a blocked sink?

Surely it’s just a conversation? “The upstairs sink is blocked, do you want to have a go at sorting it or shall I?” And then either one of you sorts it. Why the dramatics?

Yabu. It's what's recommended and has worked for us before. The steam is because it's hot water.

Bathroom pipes are not made of chocolate ffs.

And it wasn't smoke, it was steam.

Exactly. A blocked pipe is the least of your problems OP.

I'd replace the bathroom, personally.

Always worth pouring some of those drain unblockers down bathroom / shower sinks quite often as they get clogged with hair etc. My DD has bum length hair and it always gets clogged

Its stream not smoke.

It's steam not stream.

I think you need to apologise for your reaction. He was trying to help - boiling water down a sink is not a first ever trial.

Maybe discuss options on household stuff first in future and Google so you both know what's OK.

This is an entirely normal thing to do and try in the case of a blocked pipe so don't worry!

https://www.bathroomcity.co.uk/blog/how-unblock-bathroom-sink

Boiling water is fine

It wouldn't have damaged anything. The same type of PVC pipe is used for drains in kitchens and bathrooms If its a bathroom sink/bath/shower that is blocked you want to get something called spirit of salt. Caustic soda will also work but is better for kitchen's

It’s not often I’ll be found defending a man on mumsnet but in this instance I can’t believe someone started a row because they don’t seem to understand that boiling water creates steam, not smoke. Or that bathroom pipes are no different to kitchen sink pipes.

I think a blocked sink is the least of your worries @ThatLilacHedgehog

Boiling water goes down the kitchen sink all the time, I don't think they use different pipes for bathrooms and kitchens. More likely to crack the actual sink I think.

Seriously? Boiling water is the first port of call!

Probably condensation on the pvc pipes the boiling water made it evaporate as the pipe got hot

I have a boiling water tap. It steams every time I use it.
phoning plumber to get it removed asap.
Thanks op for alerting me.