My daughter got plaster down our bathroom sink. What do I do to prevent the pipes from clogging?

Question

My daughter found an open bag of powder plaster while we were cleaning out the attic. She proceeded to sneak off and dump it down the bathroom sink. As my wife arrived, all she saw were the last little bits going down the drain. We've been flushing the drain with water for like an hour. Any advice on keeping the drain from clogging up?

Answer 1

Shut the water off and relax, an hour of running it should be enough.

Answer 2

You probably got most of it.

If you really flooded it it will set into fine powder

instead of a solid and probably give you little trouble.

Answer 3

You have gotten it wet so you have started the damage.

Let it dry so it will be easier to break up and send on its way. then go to the local hardware store and get a Pipe Snake. that should break up the plaster and send it on its way. or call a plumber and he or she will probably do that same thing too.

Answer 4

There are different kinds of plaster......

If you got the "setting" kind, like plaster of paris or similar, it will set even underwater and has the be physically broken up once set. Flushing is a good thing to try at first though.

If it's the air dry type, like pre mixed drywall compound, it will go away  all by itself.

Answer 5

you can do what you are doing but it will harden somewhere down the line , we had to call the plumber for that.