Tub Clogged Won’t Drain

October 31, 2022

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What Should I Do If I Cant Unclog My Bathtub

Tub wont drain. Tub lever broken. Easy DIY Fix.

It is best to use a professional plumber to unclog your drain. If you cannot remove the clog yourself, do not use other methods because they could cause more significant problems.

Make sure your plumber is experienced in both traditional plumbing work as well as drain cleaning. To remove any extra build-up that might soon cause your pipes to stop operating, you could need to have your pipes thoroughly cleaned.

A plumber will be able to unclog your pipes safely and effectively without causing damage using specialized tools. If the blockage is severe, parts of the piping may need to be removed or replaced.

You might need a professional plumber to help you unclog your pipes. You can do this by using a high-powered water pressure machine. This will shoot a strong stream of water through your pipes to quickly remove any blockages. It will also clean out your whole plumbing system so you wont have any more clogs in the future.

Meanwhile, there are a few more methods you may use to keep your bathtub from clogging up again. Use drain covers in the shower or tub to prevent oversized items like groups of hair or tiny pieces of plastic from going down the drain.

Regular tub cleaning might prevent soap residue, dirt, sand, and other clogging causes from accumulating. Rinse out the shower after usage and clean it thoroughly regularly.

How To Fix A Bathtub That Wont Drain

A clogged bathtub drain is one of the worst things to find, and you always discover it right when youre about to take a shower or bath. Heres how you can quickly fix a bathtub that wont drain.

You fix a clogged bathtub drain by first removing any visible gunk, hair, or debris from the drain. The next step is to flush the drain with boiling water and clear any clogs using a drain snake or auger. Your last step should be to use a commercial drain cleaner to clear out any stubborn clogs.

Lets dive into the best tips and tricks for fixing a stuck bathtub drain.

How To Troubleshoot Clogged Bathtubs: 5 Helpful Tips

The first thing to do whenever youre ready to troubleshoot tub clogs is to remove any standing water from the tub before proceeding. Once thats done, try:

Cleaning the drain catches and plugs: Clear any visible obstructions in and around your bathtub drain to make it as easy as possible for water to flow through it properly. Sometimes, soap scum, hair, and other objects right on top of the drain may be the primary cause of the problem. In those cases, this simple fix can do the trick to restore proper tub drainage.

Snakingthe drain: Clearing clogged drains can also require fishing out blockages beneath the drain cover. If drainage issues persist, remove the overflow cover and use a plumbing snake to try to pull any obstructions from the pipes.

Plungingthe drain: If clearing the drain and snaking the drain dont work, remove the drain cover and plug the hole to the overflow cover with a rag. Plunge the drain hole while keeping the rag over the overflow cover to maintain a proper air seal. This may force the clog to break up, restoring proper drainage.

Using a homemade cleaning solution: Create a solution of baking soda, vinegar, and hot water and pour it down the drain. This natural solution can help break up certain types of clogs. This is a great alternative to caustic chemical drain cleaners, which can damage your pipes and your plumbing system if you use them too much.

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Open The Overflow To Gain Access

If youve tried the first two unclogging methods to no success its time to open up your drain to get better access. Youll need a few tools including a screwdriver and/or a pair of pliers, depending on the type of drain you have.

First youll need to unscrew and take off the overflow plate which is the flat metal disc on the wall of your tub, below the water spout. Once removed, you can access the drain stopper which uses a small lever to open and close the drain. If the drain stopper is not working correctly its lever may have gotten stuck in a semi-closed position. You can adjust the lever by loosening the lock nuts that hold it to the threaded rod.

If the stopper seems to be working okay, your problem probably is a clog. The good news is youll need the overflow open for the next step anyway.

How To Unclog A Shower Drain Using Chemicals

Read and follow the directions on the packaging, including the correct amount of the product to use. The amount you use will vary.
Use gloves and goggles to protect your hands and eyes.
Don’t combine different chemicals, as this can create poisonous gas.
Pour chemicals down the drain opening.

Note: Chemicals should not be treated lightly. They can cause damage to your drainage pipes, especially if used repeatedly. However, using chemicals is typically a fast, straightforward, and affordable method with a fairly high success rate in my experience. You can reduce the need for chemicals by preventing future blockages from occurring !

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How To Unclog Your Bathtub Drain Some Quick And Easy Methods

Poor maintenance of your drain can lead to either a slow draining bathtub or a complete blockage in the pipes. What causes such obstructions is usually hairs, heavy dirt or other debris that cant dissolve easily. The question here is whether you need to call a plumber to unblock your drain or you can try to fix it on your own. In this article, we are going to share 5 effective methods on how to unclog your bathtub drain in no time.

Snake The Drain To Clear Clogs

To begin, remove the tubs drain cover or drain plug. Depending on the configuration of your drain, youll need a screwdriver and/or a pair of pliers to do this.

Cover the exposed drain with a towel. This will prevent a dropped tool from marring your tub, while also preventing loose screws from falling into the drain.

Next, unscrew the cover plate for the tubs overflow tube, which also includes the stopper mechanism. Carefully withdraw the stopper linkage up and out of the overflow tube.

These two disassembly steps will probably reveal a tangle of hair and soap scum. Theres more to come. To get at it, insert the tip of your snake into the tub drain and push through the drain line, twisting the snake as you go. The snake wont go very far youll hit the overflow tube pretty quickly.

Pull the snake free and remove the messy stuff youve snagged. Then work the snake down the overflow tube the same way, twisting as you push. Here your goal is to make the snake travel farther, past the tub drain, and into the P-trap, where theres probably more debris to clear.

After pulling the snake free and removing the goop, pour some water down the tub drain and see if youve cleared the clog. If the water drains quickly as it should, you can put everything back together and call it a job well done.

Then vigorously pressurize the drain line, use a plumbers plunger.

How Do You Stop A Bathtub Drain From Smelling

There are a couple of reasons that your bathtub and shower drain may smell.

There could be odor-causing bacteria feeding on debris in your pipes. This process with give off a foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas, which smells like sewage or rotten eggs.

Also, its common for mold to grow in bathtubs and showers where its warm and wet and mold growth on the debris causing a clog can cause a bad smell.

You can try deodorizing bathtub drains and help shower drain smells with a combination of baking soda and vinegar. These ingredients, when used together, can also sometimes help to clear clogs.

All you need to do is pour a pot of boiling water down the bathtub drain. Then pour a mixture of one cup baking soda and one cup vinegar into the drain. Insert the drain plug, or close the filter, and wait 510 minutes. Finally, flush the drain with another pot of boiling water.

For more information on this process, check out our article Do Baking Soda and Vinegar Solutions Clear Clogs?

For information on how you can use Liquid-Plumr® products, visit our FAQs page.

Start Plunging And Test The Drain

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Begin pushing down the plunger and pulling it up in repeating motions. You will notice that the accumulated hair and dirt will start emerging from the drain. Quickly scoop them out of the tub and repeat the entire process several times until you remove all material that comes to the surface. When done, remove the tape and test the water flow.

If that doesnt help, maybe its time for the well-known baking soda and vinegar method.

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How To Fix When Your Bathtub Wont Drain

If you are experiencing problems with your bathtub not draining properly, dont pour any more water down the drain until it has been cleared out completely.

It will help prevent the clog from worsening and possibly causing a more significant problem later.

If the clog is located near the drain, you can use a plunger to loosen it up and break through. If all else fails, you may need to remove the drain cover or grate to access the clog directly.

Be careful when doing this, as sharp objects or bacteria could be present. You can try using a plumbing snake to dislodge the clog or use a plunger if it is accessible.

Do I Need To Call A Plumber For A Slow Draining Bathtub

You dont necessarily need to call a plumber for a slow draining bathtub if you are comfortable taking a few DIY steps to try and clear the clog. If you dont have the time, dont feel confident working with tools or chemicals or simply dont want to get messy, calling a plumber can be a great solution.

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Tub Wont Drain After Drano: Reasons And How To Fix

Tub clogs are a common phenomenon. You can consider it to be a very complicated predicament. Usually, when tubs get clogged, people resort to using Drano.

Drano is a compound that is used to clean drains. They are heavily relied upon by people when it comes to unclogging tubs, sinks, or even drains.

But what happens when Drano does not fix this particular issue? What do you do if your tub wont drain after Drano?

In this article, we will talk about ways in which you can unclog tubs without the use of Drano.

But first, lets talk about clogging.

Use A Drain Snake Or Auger

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Theres also a good chance that the club could be further down the drain than you can reach. Baking soda also has trouble penetrating too far down, and hot water will cool before it gets too deep in the pipes. This is the perfect occasion to break out that drain snake.

A drain snake, or an auger, is a tool that can go several feet down the pipe to remove stubborn clogs. Remember to clean your drain snake as you reel it back in to prevent the entire auger from getting covered in gunk from your drain.

Also, remember to take things easy when youre reeling your drain snake back in. If it gets stuck, try working it back and forth to dislodge it. You never want to try and force a drain snake as this could damage your pipes and cause a much more serious problem than a clog.

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Bathtub Won’t Drain No Problem

Signs of a clogged drain include gurgling noises, slow drains, foul odors, and water backing up. Common reasons why a bathtub wont drain include soap scum, hair, bath bombs, cosmetic products, and damaged pipes. You can fix such plumbing problems using boiling water, baking soda and vinegar, a plunger, or a plumbing snake.

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The Drain Stopper Is Stuck:

A built-in stopper may be found in most bathtubs, especially shower combos . Bathtubs with stoppers are easy to identify because the drain is usually located in the center of the tub. Wont the bathtub drain? If your bathtub is not draining correctly, then the chances are that this is why! Bathtub drains get clogged up all sorts of objects like hair or soap scum . The most common solution for removing a stuck object from a bathtub is to drain it by using baking soda and vinegar together. They both react violently when combined, which dissolves obstructions quickly.

A stopper will stop the bathtub from draining. This can happen if it becomes damaged or if it is old.

If you suspect that a broken stopper is preventing your bathtub from draining, attempt to remove it. Use pliers to pull the stopper out of the drain. It might be blocked by a wad of hair or damaged in some way. This may help unclog your bathtub right away.

If this is the scenario, you may replace the bathtub stopper or clear out any built-up gunk or hair.

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Unclog Your Bathtub Drain With Baking Soda And Vinegar

Although the method of mixing baking soda with vinegar and pouring boiling water into the drain seems a bit old-school, we highly recommend it! The products are less harmless to the drainage system than other chemical compounds, and they have proven to be effective in many situations, from unclogging drains to removing red wine stains.

The tools you may need are:

Ive Tried Everything What Now

How to Unclog Tub Drain If the Snake Won’t Fit

If you tried everything you could on your own, its time to call in a professional. Bathtub and shower drain issues, like other plumbing problems, might be easy fixes or might require tools and expertise that the average homeowner simply does not have.

At JD Service Now, were committed to providing the high-quality, reliable service that helps homeowners throughout Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Apex, and the surrounding areas of North Carolina get the most out of their propertiesliving in comfort and safety with the knowledge that their repairs are done right the first time.

If you’re located in North Carolina, schedule an appointment to have your shower or bathtub drain inspected and fixed, call 626-3626 or contact us online. We look forward to seeing how we can help you!

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Clean The Sink Stopper

Sometimes the stopper of the bathroom sink may build-up residues, debris, and soapy lather around it. This will slow the draining of the sink. Also, hairs might circle it. Thus, when you experience a bathroom sink not draining, no clog, you must start by cleaning the stopper.

Firstly, look underneath the sink to find the small rod attached to the stopper. It will also have a nut and clip. The clip attaches the small rod to the drain pipe.
Use the pliers to loosen and remove the nut to detach the smaller rod. Then, squeeze the clip attached to the rod. It will release the smaller rod to lift the sink stopper.
Remove the hairs around the stopper. Use an old toothbrush and soap to clean off the stopper properly before you remount it.

S For Unclogging Tub Drain With A Plunger:

Block the overflow drain Located on the front wall of the tub, the overflow drain prevents the tub for filling to the top and overflowing . The drain hole you see in the wall has a pipe that connects to the tub drain. Use duct tape to seal the overflow drain hole so air cant escape while youre plunging the tub drain.

Remove stopper from the tub drain.

Pour hot water into the tub. The hot water will help loosen up the blockage.

Place plunger over the drain. Make sure theres a good seal around the hole.

Pump the plunger up and down about 5 times in each direction to force water down the pipe and hopefully dislodging the blockage.

Remove the plunger and check the drain.

Repeat plunging, if needed.

When the clog is cleared, replace drain stopper and duct tape/rag from the overflow drain.

With the right tool and some elbow grease, you should be able to unclog your tub. But if you have any trouble, it may be time to bring in a professional to make sure you dont have a bigger plumbing issue on your hands.

For fast, friendly service that you can trust, call the local experts at Pratt Plumbing. We have a team of licensed plumbers ready to help any way we can. To schedule an appointment. Call us at .

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Causes Of Clogs In Bathtub Drains

Cause	How It Happens
Hair	Hair can combine with soap and dirt and clump together to form clogs. It can also attach to drains and pipes, making it difficult to remove.
Soap	Traditional soap bars are made with grease or fat. The fat combines with minerals in water and leaves a hard residue that clogs pipes. Soap can also combine with hair and dirt.
Dirt	Dirt can build up and cause problems. The very nature of bathing means that we are constantly sending dirt down the drain.
Stopper	If the stopper hasn’t been fitted correctly or is out of position, it may become stuck in a semi-closed position, and the plunger may restrict drainage.
Tree roots	Older underground pipes can crack or leak, attracting root growth. Once inside your pipes, roots grow larger, blocking water flow and causing pipe damage.
Mineral build up	Minerals dissolved in water can build up over time and create insoluble masses that will block your drains.