A clogged shower drain can ruin your morning shower. One moment everything seems fine, and the next, there's a pool of water around your feet.
Like hair or soap scum, an obstruction in the pipe can block the water from draining properly. If left too long, this can cause damage to the plumbing.
Clearing a drain is easy enough on your own for the most part, but sometimes, the problem may be more than you can handle with our DIY solutions and tips.
There is more than one method to clear a shower drain, and one happens to be calling a professional if some of the ideas below don't work for your clogged shower drains.
A professional is used to clearing clogs, and there is nothing they can't find a solution for and give you your shower back.
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The first thing you want to do is remove as much water from the situation as possible with a bucket and dump it outside, so no other drains have the potential to get blocked as well.
After that, try to dissolve the clog using either store-bought chemicals or one of the ways we have listed below, like baking soda and vinegar.
Then, you are ready for your plunger. Take the plunger and make sure you have a solid seal around the drain cover before using the plunger. The force created by the plunger should be enough to send whatever remnants of the blockage down the pipes.
Now, it is time to flush the pipes, which also doubles as a water test to see if this process was successful. Put hot water down the drain and make sure it drains.
One of the most common things to block shower drains is hair. A hair clog can gum up the plumbing and cause a lot of problems.
Hair in your drains is easy enough to fix with the right tools, however.
If your drain has a removable cover, your best bet is to remove the drain cover by prying it open with a screwdriver before moving on. If the blockage is close enough to the top of the drain to grab, you can yank it out at the source.
If the hair is further down, then you can always use a pair of tweezers or a hair snake to pull it out. Reach in, remove, and repeat the process until the drain in your shower normally flows again.
Shower drain clogs can be caused by a blockage from hair, soap scum, or minerals from inside the pipes.
Having an issue with your plumbing can be frustrating, but some of these fixes may be able to help.
These methods for drain cleaning are our best tips and tricks and hopefully provide solutions to your problems. Dealing with plumbing problems can seem daunting, especially knowing they were caused by something as simple as a soap buildup, but home plumbing solutions don't have to be difficult.
Ideas and tips on how to unclog a shower drain and have your water flowing normally again.
You are sure to feel like a plumbing expert when your drains flow normally after trying some of the solutions below.
Pouring boiling water down a clogged shower drain is the first method you should try before resorting to more drastic measures like chemical drain clearing techniques.
Often, whatever is causing the problem can be loosened with boiling water, especially soap remnants.
After making the boiling water on a stove-top, carefully transport it to the clog and run it down the shower drain.
After it drains, run hot water from the tap to make sure everything is draining properly. The hot water should finish breaking down the obstruction, therefore returning your shower drain to normal.
The next method to try would be baking soda and white vinegar.
Mix the cup of vinegar with a cup of baking soda and immediately pour the fizzing mixture down the drain.
Allow this mixture of a cup of white vinegar and a cup of baking soda to rest in the pipes overnight, use a plunger to clear the block, and then flush the pipes with hot water.
There's a good chance you never thought about using a bent wire hanger as a plumbing tool before. This method is especially helpful when you suspect that hair may be the culprit of your clogs.
By bending the hanger into a hooked shape and inserting it into the drain, you can easily loosen and remove clogs if they are close enough to the top of the drain for the hanger to catch on to.
Simply insert your tool until you meet resistance and carefully use the hooked end to pull it out.
This method works great if you already have a Shop-Vac on hand with the necessary attachments.
Insert the hose into the drain and try to make the seal around it as airtight as possible for the best suction. Turn it on for about 15 seconds.
The shop vac should act as a powerful plunger on the block, saving you the time and the energy you would exert using a normal plunger.
This process could get a little messy if your seal isn't tight, so have towels on hand for any pieces of the blockage that make their way around the vacuum hose.
Rather than pulling a blockage backward or sucking it out of the way, snaking the drain pushes the problem out of the way into areas of the plumbing that should be easier for it to move through.
Snaking drain tools usually twist like a handheld and operated drill to loosen the gunk and push it away.
This method is great for when the blockage is too far down to pull out or plunge away.
This method involves some heavy chemicals, so make sure you have rubber gloves ready as well as something to protect your eyes. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands before dealing with any of the materials for this option.
This option is great for breaking down buildups of minerals.
Making sure not to get any on your hands, carefully dilute the caustic soda, and stir this new mixture together before immediately dumping it down the drain.
Make sure not to use a vessel or utensils that you plan to eat or drink out of later.
Let this mixture sit for 30 minutes before flushing the drain and testing if it worked. If it didn't work the first time, you can repeat this process until the issue goes away.
This method is often the easiest for getting your shower back. A professional plumber has the experience and training to easily help you with your issue and do it right the first time.
If you do need to call a plumber for the drain in your shower, you should call 24H Plumbing Pros.
This professional plumbing service is used to these types of home maintenance procedures and can complete them quickly and efficiently.
We know how to unclog a sink, flush a sewer line, perform drain cleaning, and other plumbing maintenance tasks to get the water flowing again and return your shower to the way you like it.
Contact us today with any clogged drain dilemmas, any blockage you can't handle yourself, or if you need a sewer line inspected.
We have all the fixes for your problems, so that clogged shower drains are a thing of the past, water no longer pools around your feet, and you can shower in peace.
