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Kitchen Sink Backed Up? There's a Reason It Happened Here
Korean kitchens have no garbage disposals — every drop of oil and every grain of rice goes through the pipe as-is. Add a winter cold snap that sets the fat, and a line that drained fine for months stops in one evening. We deal with this every single week.
Symptoms we hear from expat kitchens
- Water sits in the basin for minutes after doing dishes, then glugs down all at once
- Both bowls of a double sink fill together — the blockage is past the shared trap
- A sour, oily smell drifts up even when the sink is empty
- Your officetel kitchenette drains fine until laundry runs, then backs up — long thin lines to the riser are common in these buildings
- Drain cleaner from the mart helped for two days, then everything stopped again
- You just moved in and the sink was already slow on day one — that clog belongs to the pipe's history, not to you
Running a restaurant or cafe? Restaurant kitchens and floor trench drains are quoted by scale. Text us photos of the trench drain or grease trap and the kitchen layout — we quote commercial jobs the same way: a number you approve before anything starts.
How we clear it
1 · Photo of the sink and cabinet
One shot of the basin, one of the pipes under the sink. That tells us the trap type and what machine to bring, and you get a range by text.
2 · Trap first, then the line
Plenty of kitchen clogs live in the trap and fittings right under the sink. We check there before running a machine deeper — no point charging you for distance the clog never reached.
3 · Quote before the machine spins
Once we know where the blockage sits, you get one fixed figure with the VAT-included total. Approve it, and only then does the work start.
4 · Hot-water flow test
After clearing, we run hot water at full flow for several minutes to confirm the line carries it, reassemble everything dry, and hand you the receipt.
Price
Fixed quote on site · VAT 10% separate
Restaurant kitchens and floor trench drains are quoted by scale.
- Fixed quote before work starts — you agree to the number first. If the scope turns out to be different mid-job, we stop and explain before anything continues.
- Same rates at night, on weekends and on holidays.
- Card payment accepted. Cash receipt or corporate tax invoice (세금계산서) issued on request.
- VAT 10% is quoted separately, and we tell you the VAT-included total before starting.
Keep it from coming back
- Wipe oily pans with paper before washing — the single biggest difference you can make
- Keep the mesh strainer basket in place; rice and coffee grounds are pipe cement
- Once a week, let the hottest tap water run for a minute to soften what's building up
Related reading
Who pays for plumbing repairs in Korea — landlord or tenant?
How to call a plumber in Korea (when you don't speak Korean)
Moving into a Korean apartment: 10-minute plumbing checklist
English by text (SMS) works best. Phone calls are fine in Korean or Japanese.