Signs you need this
- Tub water climbs whenever someone flushes upstairs
- Gurgling from the sink after the washer drains
- Floor drain weeping or smelling of sewer gas
- Slow drains on more than one fixture
Kit on the van, and the method
- Drum auger with ¼–⅜ in. cable for 1½–2 in. branches
- Sectional machine and cutting heads for 3–4 in. mains
- Self-levelling camera and locator
- Trap wrenches, cleanout keys, drop sheets
Before we leave: Run several fixtures at once and watch the lowest drain for any rise.
Why bathroom lines plug
A bathroom drain sees hair, soap, toothpaste, shaving cream and skin oils every day. Bar soap reacts with minerals in Durham's moderately hard water and leaves a waxy scum. Hair snags on the stopper linkage, the scum glues it in place, and the mat grows until the opening is a pinhole.
Basins add a second culprit: the pop-up stopper rod. The pivot passes right through the tailpiece, and it is a perfect hook for a hair rope.
What we open
| Fixture | Usual access | What we normally pull out |
|---|---|---|
| Bathtub | Overflow plate and trip lever | Hair mat on the linkage, soap scum |
| Shower stall | Strainer screwed into the drain body | Hair, grit, bits of tile grout |
| Basin | Pop-up rod and P-trap | Hair rope, toothpaste sludge |
| Toilet | Bowl with closet auger, or pulled off the flange | Wipes, toys, too much paper |
Our sequence
We start with the gentlest tool that will reach the clog. For a tub that usually means pulling the overflow assembly and drawing the linkage out, which removes the hair without touching the pipe. If the slowness is further down, we pass a slim hand cable in by way of the overflow, not the flange, so it does not scratch the finish. Basin traps come off, get cleaned at a bucket and go back with fresh washers when the old ones are flattened.
If two bathroom fixtures are slow together, the clog is in the shared branch behind the wall, and we cable from the nearest cleanout or from the roof vent where the layout makes that safer.
Stopping it coming back
- A mesh hair catcher in every tub and shower, cleaned weekly.
- Switching from bar soap to liquid reduces scum noticeably in hard water.
- Flush the basin with hot water once the shave is done to move the residue along.
Shower slow despite clean strainers? The trap may be poorly pitched from an earlier renovation, which our bathroom renovation plumbing page covers. For blockages beyond the bathroom, see general drain cleaning.