Kids poured tiny styrofoam beads down outside drain and clogged mainline

I'm completely broke right now, as in the check for the plumber would bounce. Anyone have any clue how to get styrofoam clogs out. Surely something would dissolve styrofoam, but I don't want to make a bigger mess.

Well technically yes...gasoline will dissolve styrofoam in a matter of seconds but I believe that might end up releasing nasty gasses. I don't know this for certain but I'm pretty sure it's dangerous.

Any idea how far down the clog is?

I just looked around and it looks like you can use Acetone to dissolve it pretty safely...it's organic and readily available at most places that sell paint.

And also in nail polish remover. I'll try that thanks. Still open to other suggestions.

Just take care not to inhale the air around that drain for a few minutes!

Fire.

LOL. Fire is going to be a bit difficult considering all the standing water.

The main drain is outside, so fumes hopefully won't be a big issue. I also poured some down the kitchen drain because it is the one that backs up in the outside drain and the clog is between there and the bathroom/laundry since they drain fine, so I figure it is closer to the drain. Gonna wait an hour or so and then fill the sink and see if it backs up again. My daughter is squirming right now. Her tummy hurts she's so scared. And yes, it's late. She should be in bed, but I'm letting her stay up and squirm.

Hope it works! Let us know!

And I totally get letting the kid stay up to squirm. I've got three and I'd be doing the same thing.

try air pressure?
i'm guessing everything is running slow because you think it in the main?

You don't want to try that, Willie. Air Pressure in a drain line will be putting a moving force on both the downstream and upstream outlets, and cause discharge from your P-traps and possibly cause your toilets to overflow.... You could be creating more problems instead of solving the one that you have.

No, because the drain they put it through has a direct line to the main. It is in the same place that the thing stops up any time it stops up. But it is the line that runs under the basement, just before it catches the laundry/bathroom on it's path and is about a 4inch pipe. The kitchen hits it before that spot, so the kitchen stuff comes back up outside in the outside drain, which is how we know when we have a problem. Nothing stops up in the sink itself. Anyway, when I got back with the acetone all of the water had already gone down, so it has some draining to it. However I put some in the kitchen drain and some outside, waited an hour, filled both kitchen sinks and let them go, and it came up outside and stood. However, I went back in 45 minutes and the water was gone. Today I'm going to time it and see how long it actually takes to drain, but I think for now we are going to wait and see if this problem flushes on through in the next couple of days cause it is not backing up high enough to run under the basement door, which is what usually happens. It's really not a good set up at all.

Drano Max!

Yup, acetone is the answer. Used in chemistry labs to clean glassware. Dissolves lots of things that water does not, including styrofoam. Safe to pour into a drain, just make sure you flush with lots of water after.

Well, I was not here when the dishes were done and the water was let out this am, but you can see where the water backed up, but it was not standing when I checked. I asked Hugh how long ago he had let the water out and he said about 10 minutes, so it backs up and then drains. I will remember the acetone in the future though.

agreed.
unhook the main, send air?