About once a year the bathtub drain gets a little slow. If I ignore this problem, unfortunately it does not seem to go away, it only gets worse. We end up taking shower baths, which is really annoying, at least to me. So, once a year I venture into the basement to unclog the beast.
bath tub drain below the floor
Because I am the one who installed the bathtub, I am the only one to blame if it is difficult to remove the drain to unclog it. I think I had good intentions here, but they kind of got buried in the pipes for the solar hot water system. Anyway, it is not too bad, just a little bit of reaching. When I removed the trap I stuffed a rag into the sewer line to prevent gas from seeping into the basement while I cleaned out the various pieces.
Fortunately all of the drains are plastic and come apart with little effort. A pair of slip joint pliers is all that is needed. In fact, most of the connections are hand tight.
clogged up bath tub drain pipe
As I suspected, my wife’s long hair is the culprit.
more hair in bath tub drain
Lots of culprit. I sprayed each part out with a high pressure garden hose and wiped the inside with a rag. Where the P trap meets the 2 inch drain there was some junk too, I cleaned that with a rag.
Once all the parts are reassembled I ran a little water into the trap to check for leaks and prevent any sewer gas from seeping into the house.
While I was at it, I cleaned out the bathroom sink as well. This fixture had been draining a little slowly lately. Same situation, hair.
Took about a half an hour to do and it is a little bit smelly and dirty or disgusting if you think about it too much. Plumbers charge a lot but they earn their money.
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Very uh… detailed pictures. Especially the ones showing the “culprit”. It’s nice that it’s so accessible. If I needed to unclog our bathroom drain, I’d be purchasing some drain-o and borrowing a snake.
You like that Ethan? There was one that was much worse but I was eating my lunch when I typed this post. What really can’t be described is the smell.
It’s amazing how quickly hair clogs up drains. It actually surprises me that current pipe sizing doesn’t alleviate this problem. Our kitchen sink has two sides, the side we use for draining the dishes get’s clogged easily too with soap scum.We avoid drain cleaners in our house because of the septic system. I don’t dare put that down the drain for fear of killing the bacteria in the tank.
Todd, the septic tank is exactly why I don’t use things like draino. It gets clogged about once a year, so it’s not too bad to disassemble and clean. The kitchen sink has yet to have any problems… yet.
I’m jealous you can do this by just going into the basement. I have to deal with the same culprit, only instead of carrying the whole bunch outside and spraying it I have to use a little hook and pry out the carnage from above. And yes, the smell is impressive to say the least…
be worth you investing in a drain snake as it will keep clogging as of the hair,the drain snake may clear it a bit quicker with less messing.
To help your trap drain, try raising the trap above the waist line. It looks like you have plenty of room to raise it. This will ensure that the waste water will flush out the trap as it drains. You might have to replace the last section of your 3″ pipe because it looks like you have a street 90 coming out of the “why” and you do not have enough pipe to use a coupling if you cut off the 90.
Here is what I would did.
third times the charm.
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0000000000000000000000 000000000 00000000000000000
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Main Line 0000000000000000000000000
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Good post. I have found that hair only collects where it finds a place to hang onto. Specifically (my culprit) would be the cross section in the bottom of the drain.
Major Matt – the vent is probably the reason the p-trap ties into this 3″ line. (I believe the vent is connected to that horizontal run of 3)I would not drop any prior to venting, as it reduces flow and is a code no no. (no vent opening below trap weir (”weir” is the interior bend that occurs in a p-trap – the point at which water rising above will flow downstream and out of the p-trap)IRC 3105.2 & UPC 905.5) Just FYI, and since you took the trouble of making a drawing I would just suggest it is fine if the vent is located right after the 1’s. unfortunately his vent is probably downstream of the M.
Paul,
I know this isn’t a clogged drain but I figure this is just as good as place as any to comment on the importance of an alarm on a septic pump tank. Oh it was 2 o’clock AM the day after Christmas and I was welcomed with a not so pleasant smell coming from the basement. As it turned out my septic pump had failed and the septic tank was backing up and coming out of the washing machine drain.
Only minor disgust in the house and lucking to have a walkout basement. I diverted most of the overflow until the septic company got there at a reasonable hour.
If you have a septic with a pump, GET AND ALARM which is my next home project.
FredW
Fred, That is a good point. Anytime that gravity is not moving waste water, a high water alarm should be installed in the holding tank, there are some really simple batter operated units that only cost $10.00 or so. A good alarm with a remote annuncator panel will be a little more, but well worth it, especially when it comes to a septic tank.