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Johnson Bros. Plumbing & Drain Cleaning
Kitchen Sink Clogged?

Clogged Kitchen Sink? We'll Clear It Fast.

Licensed South Shore plumber. $99 dispatch and diagnosis fee — waived if you approve the repair. Grease, food, disposal issues — we handle all of it.

We have cleared 100 kitchen sink clogs across the South Shore, 44 of them in Quincy. Counted from our own completed work orders across 10 South Shore towns — not an estimate.

Sink filling up? Water sitting in one side of the double basin? Garbage disposal humming but not clearing? Same-day availability when scheduling permits.

Call (617) 479-9911Book Online

Can't talk right now? Get a callback.

MA Master Plumber Lic. PL #17034-M · Corp. #458124/7 emergency line4.8 stars · 418 Google reviews

What's Clogging Your Kitchen Sink

Grease buildup on pipe walls

The dominant cause. Cooking oils, butter, dressing, and cheese residue congeal inside the pipe and capture everything else.

Starchy food debris

Pasta, rice, and potato expand in water and stick to existing grease. Over time, the pipe narrows drastically.

Garbage disposal jam or failure

Humming without grinding = jam. Silent + nothing happens = motor or wiring issue. We repair and replace disposals.

Branch drain grease line

If the kitchen is slow AND other nearby fixtures are slow, the grease has moved downstream into the branch drain. Hydro-jetting clears it.

Kitchen Sink Filling Up? Don't Ignore It.

Grease buildup worsens every time you cook. Clear it properly now — before it becomes a main-line problem.

Call (617) 479-9911

Kitchen Drain Service — South Shore MA

Dispatched daily from our Quincy & Abington offices:

Quincy Abington Boston Braintree Weymouth Milton Randolph Hingham Brockton Rockland Cohasset Canton Hull Holbrook Sharon Whitman Scituate Hanover Plymouth Marshfield Stoughton Norwell Bridgewater Pembroke Hanson East Bridgewater Duxbury Avon West Bridgewater Kingston Halifax

Clogged Kitchen Sink — Common Questions

How much does clearing a clogged kitchen sink cost?
Our $99 to send a licensed technician out, not charged at all if you approve the repair. A typical grease/food clog in the trap or within the first few feet of branch drain is a standard visit. If the clog is deeper in the stack or main line — or if the grease is extensive — we quote that work before continuing.
Why does my kitchen sink keep clogging?
Grease is the #1 cause — cooking oil, butter, bacon grease, dressing, cheese residue. Even small amounts congeal inside the pipe wall and catch food debris. The #2 cause is starchy food (pasta, rice, potato peels) that expands and sticks to the existing grease buildup. Hydro-jetting cleans that out properly.
My garbage disposal is humming but not grinding — is it clogged?
That usually means the disposal is jammed, not clogged. Turn off the breaker or unplug it, use the hex wrench in the bottom to rotate the motor manually. If you can free it, reset the red button on the underside and test. If the disposal still won't run, it needs service or replacement. We do both.
Can hydro-jetting clear a kitchen line with heavy grease?
Yes — that's exactly what hydro-jetting is for. A cable auger punches a hole through the grease; high-pressure water scours the pipe wall clean. For a chronic kitchen-line issue, hydro-jetting is the right service, and we often camera-inspect first to confirm the pipe is sound before jetting.
Will you need to open my wall or floor?
Almost never for a kitchen clog. We clear through the existing cleanout, the trap, or the disposal discharge. We don't open walls unless there's a structural pipe issue — and we'd show you why on camera before anything is cut.
Why does my kitchen sink gurgle after the dishwasher runs?
The dishwasher pumps out faster than a partly clogged kitchen line can carry it away, so air is pushed back through the sink trap. That gurgle is an early sign of grease buildup in the branch line, and clearing the line removes it before the sink stops draining altogether.
Does hydro-jetting damage old kitchen pipes?
Not when the pipe is sound, which is why we camera an old cast-iron or galvanized line before jetting it. Jetting removes the grease and scale a cable leaves behind; it does not cut into the pipe wall. If the camera shows a pipe that is already cracked or collapsing, we tell you that first and quote a repair instead.

What causes a clogged kitchen sink, and how does a plumber fix it?

A clogged kitchen sink is usually cooking grease that has cooled and hardened on the inside of the drain line with food scraps caught in it, and a plumber fixes it by cabling the line through the cleanout or the trap arm, or by hydro-jetting the line when the grease coats the whole pipe.

Kitchen lines clog differently from bathroom drains. The P-trap is rarely the problem; the buildup is in the horizontal branch line between the sink and the stack, where grease settles on the bottom of the pipe. A cable opens a channel through that grease, which is enough for a one-time clog. A line that clogs every few months needs the grease scoured off the pipe wall with a jetter, and a camera look afterwards if the pipe is old cast iron or galvanized steel.

What do we check first on a clogged kitchen sink call?

  • Whether the disposal is jammed or the line is blocked

    A disposal that hums and a sink that will not drain are two different faults. We check the disposal with the power off before anything goes down the line.

  • The dishwasher drain and the air gap

    Dishwasher water backing into the sink, or a dishwasher that will not drain, usually shares the same clogged line. We confirm that so the visit fixes both.

  • The cleanout and the trap arm

    We prefer to cable through a cleanout so the trap is not disturbed, but many South Shore kitchens have none. If so we open the trap arm, which is still a standard visit.

  • How far the cable travels before it meets resistance

    The distance to the clog tells us whether it sits in the branch line or at the stack, and that decides whether a jetter is worth bringing in.

When is a clogged kitchen sink not a drain-cleaning job?

A full kitchen sink has more than one possible cause, and three of them are not drain cleaning. We tell you which page the work belongs to before we quote it.

  • The disposal hums, trips its reset or leaks

    A jammed or dead disposal is an appliance repair. Freeing the flywheel, resetting the overload or replacing the unit is garbage disposal repair.

  • Water on the cabinet floor under the sink

    A drip from the trap, the dishwasher connection or the supply stops is a leak, not a clog. Once we see which joint is failing it is repaired as pipe repair.

  • The basement floor drain or a first-floor toilet backs up too

    When fixtures on other floors respond to the kitchen draining, the blockage is in the main sewer, not the kitchen branch. That call starts with a camera and belongs to sewer line service.

What should I do before the visit?

  1. Empty the cabinet under the sink and take anything off the disposal; the technician needs the trap, the disposal and the dishwasher connection in view.
  2. Do not run the disposal again to force it. If it hums or trips, leave it off at the switch.
  3. Bail the standing water out of the sink into a bucket if you can. A full sink slows the work and hides the trap connections.
  4. Tell us how old the house is and whether the kitchen line has been jetted before; old cast iron changes the tool we bring.

Where to read more

This page covers one fixture. The full service, including main lines and jetting, is on our drain cleaning page; what decides the price of a visit is on what drain cleaning costs; and whether we work in your town is on the towns we serve.

Kitchen Sink Clogged? Let's Fix It.

Licensed and insured. 4.8 stars from 418 Google reviews. Grease-line specialists. Honest pricing.

Call (617) 479-9911Book Online

Also see: Hydrojetting (for grease lines) · Drain Cleaning · Main Drain