Kitchen sink leak: which joint under the sink is dripping?
Before anything gets tightened, empty the cabinet, dry every pipe, then fill and release each bowl in turn and watch. A kitchen sink leak that shows only while water drains is on the drain side. One that drips with the faucet off is on the supply side.
On the drain side, the usual spots are the slip nuts on the trap, where the flat washers dry out and shift; the strainer basket, whose putty seal lets go and wets the outside of the tailpiece; and old chrome tailpieces, which are thin metal that rusts through from the inside. On a double-bowl sink, the cross piece that joins the two bowls is another weak point. If the drip comes from the faucet or its supply lines, the details are on our faucet repair page.
A trap knocked loose by cleaning bottles stored against it is common, and new washers fix that. A rusted chrome trap or a mismatched patchwork of parts is better replaced as a whole kit.
Water in the sink cabinet? Get the kitchen plumbing checked
- Your call goes to an independent local plumbing company that does the work.
What kitchen plumbing repair covers
Kitchen plumbing repair is the work between the sink, the wall and the appliances that share its water and drain. The faucet cartridge and the disposal motor have their own pages; the rest of the sink base is here:
- traps, tailpieces, strainer baskets and the cross piece on a double-bowl sink
- the trap arm and the drain branch in the wall, cleared or replaced
- vent problems, from a stuck air admittance valve to an unvented S-trap
- dishwasher drain and supply connections, including the high loop or air gap
- refrigerator and ice maker lines, stops and recessed valve boxes
These get checked together, since a slow drain, a wet cabinet floor and a dishwasher holding gray water often trace back to the same clogged arm. Moving the sink, adding an appliance or opening a wall is a bigger job; the permit notes below explain why.
Grease in the trap arm and kitchen sink drain repair
When a kitchen sink drains slowly and the trap is clean, the clog is further along: in the trap arm that runs into the wall, or the horizontal branch behind it. Grease is almost always part of it. Bacon fat and pan drippings go down warm and liquid, cool a few feet into the pipe, and stick.
Older houses make it worse. Close to two-thirds of Sterling Heights homes date from 1960 through 1989, and houses of that era often have cast iron or galvanized kitchen drains that roughen inside with age and give grease more to grip. Grease causes trouble downstream too: in 2018, crews removed a 100-foot fatberg from the Lakeshore Interceptor sewer in Clinton Township.
A cable through the trap arm usually opens a single slow sink. If the branch fills with grease again within months, or other fixtures slow down at the same time, the line needs a full drain cleaning from a cleanout, and possibly jetting. Our article on drains that keep clogging explains how to tell a trap clog from a line problem. A disposal that runs but won't clear water is often the same grease, sitting in the arm past it.
Wipe pans with a paper towel before washing and keep a can for cooled grease.
Why does the kitchen drain gurgle or smell? Check the vent
Every drain needs air behind the water, supplied by a vent pipe through the roof. When the vent is blocked, a draining sink pulls air through the nearest trap instead, and you hear gurgling or smell sewer gas from an emptied trap.
Signs of a kitchen drain vent problem: the sink gurgles when the dishwasher or the other bowl drains, water drains in slow glugs, or the smell comes and goes. Causes include debris or a nest in the roof vent, and on island sinks, a failed air admittance valve. That's the one-way vent cap under many island sinks that opens to let air in and closes to keep gas out. When it sticks shut, the island drain slows; when it sticks open, the cabinet smells.
A stuck valve is a quick swap; a blocked roof vent is cleared from above. Some older kitchens have S-shaped traps with no vent at all, which siphon dry. Fixing those properly means venting the drain, and that's alteration work that needs a permit.
Dishwasher drain hookup, ice maker lines and pull-down hoses
High loop, air gap and dishwasher supply
A dishwasher pumps its wastewater into the sink drain or the disposal. That hose has to rise above the drain before it drops into it, either in a high loop fastened to the underside of the countertop or through an air gap fitting mounted on the sink deck. Without one, sink water can siphon back into the dishwasher. If you open the door to standing gray water, check this first.
On the supply side, swap old copper or plastic tubing for a braided stainless line while the machine is pulled out.
Ice maker lines and pull-down faucet hoses
A refrigerator line can soak a floor unseen. Saddle valves that pierce a copper line are the usual leak source. Plastic tubing cracks when the fridge gets pushed back. A proper tee and quarter-turn stop, or a recessed valve box, with a braided stainless line, fixes both.
Macomb Township's 2024 water report put average hardness at 99 ppm, and the ice maker's inlet valve and fridge filter collect that scale. Our hard water guide covers what to expect.
A pull-down faucet hose connects to the faucet supply with a quick-connect fitting that can weep, and the counterweight can catch on the trap so the hose kinks or rubs. Rerouting the hose and resetting the weight fixes most of it; a worn hose gets replaced.
Kitchen plumbing repair in Macomb: the visit and what drives cost
- Your call to (207) 419-2600 describes the drip, the backup, the smell or the hookup, and the details go to a plumber who takes kitchen calls near you.
- The plumber empties the cabinet and dries every joint.
- Each bowl is filled and released, the dishwasher drains, and the stops and supply lines get checked until the source shows.
- You hear the cause, the options and the cost drivers before anything comes apart.
- The repair goes in, whether that's new slip washers, a cleared trap arm or a new valve box.
- Both bowls are filled and drained again, the dishwasher runs a drain cycle, and every joint is checked dry.
Trap work is usually short, and a dishwasher hookup runs about an hour.
Cost factors
Materials come first. A PVC trap kit costs less than brass, and a chrome tailpiece rusted through usually means replacing the whole assembly. Access is next: a deep sink base, an island cabinet or a disposal crowding the trap all slow the work. On a clog, how far the grease reaches matters, since a trap arm opened with a short cable is a different job from a long branch packed solid that needs cleaning from a cleanout or jetting. For a refrigerator line, the route sets the time; tapping a cold line under the sink is quick, crossing a finished basement ceiling is not. Installing a dishwasher or fridge for the first time costs more than reconnecting one. Opening a wall for a vent adds drywall work, and permitted work adds the township's fees and an inspection.
Permits
Clearing a clog falls under Michigan's exemption for stoppages, and new trap washers add no piping. LARA requires a permit before work that adds or alters piping, though: a dishwasher where there wasn't one, a sink moved to an island, a new vent or a rerouted drain. Macomb Township's permit application lists both dishwashers and kitchen sinks as per-fixture items, so plan for a permit and inspection on that kind of work. In Michigan, the permit holder is a licensed plumbing contractor or an owner personally doing the work on an owner-occupied single-family home. Get the contractor's license number and check it against LARA's online records before the job starts.
Why call Plumbers in Macomb, MI about kitchen plumbing?
A leaking trap, a gurgling island sink and a fridge line that soaked the floor all start with the same phone number. A call to (207) 419-2600 goes to an independent plumber who takes jobs in your neighborhood, and that plumber diagnoses, quotes and does the work. This page covers the parts under the sink, the cost drivers and the permit line, which helps you ask sharper questions, like whether the trap arm or the branch is clogged or whether your dishwasher has a high loop. You don't fill out a form. Say which bowl leaks, what drains slowly or what you smell.
Kitchen plumbing repair: questions we hear
What kitchen plumbing repairs can be handled in one visit?
Most trap and slip-joint leaks, clogged drain arms, dishwasher drain and supply hookups, ice maker lines and pull-down hose problems are one-visit jobs. Work that opens a wall, such as adding a vent or rerouting a drain to an island, takes longer and may need a permit first.
Can the same plumber handle kitchen and bathroom plumbing repair?
Yes. The same plumber who clears your kitchen drain can look at a dripping vanity or a slow tub on the same trip if you mention it when you call (207) 419-2600. Listing everything up front lets the plumber bring the right parts.
Does my dishwasher need a high loop or an air gap?
Yes, it needs one or the other so dirty sink water can't siphon back into the dishwasher. Dishwasher makers' instructions call for at least a high loop, and some local inspectors want an air gap fitting on the sink deck. If yours has neither, it's a quick fix.
Is a saddle valve OK for a refrigerator water line?
No, it's worth replacing. A saddle valve clamps onto a pipe and pierces it with a needle, and the rubber seal tends to drip or seize after a few years. A proper tee with a quarter-turn stop, or a recessed valve box behind the fridge, is the reliable way to feed an ice maker.
