Author Topic: Cleared my drains today  (Read 1735 times)

skibum

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 44
  • Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Cleared my drains today
« on: April 14, 2018, 02:04:40 PM »
I know it seems trivial when other people are building houses, but I got my bathroom drains cleared all by myself today. I've done a bit of DIY, but never wanted to tackle plumbing. Ick! When I moved into this house, the upstairs sink and tub drains were slow. It's only gotten worse in the last year. They are hard to keep clean because they drain so slow. I toyed with the idea of calling a plumber, but I'm stumbling towards mustachianism here. I borrowed a snake, took a deep breath, and got in there to tackle them.

They were both easier and harder than I'd thought. The sink drain I had to google how to get the stopper open. Ended up removing the pivot arm, which was pretty easy. The clog was only there. Once I removed all of it (barf), the drain clears easily. Win!

Then I tackled the tub. I figured the easiest way to get the snake in was to remove the overflow drain, but it turned out to be the kind with one screw in the middle. The post for the screw prevented me from getting the snake down. After a few dejected minutes, and another cup of coffee, I tried to think through the problem. I figured I would give plunging another try. Sure enough, with the cover removed the overflow drain was much easier to stop. I was able to plunge and plunge, and then BOOM, I could hear water draining.

For good measure, I filled the tub again, and did some more plunging, and now it's draining quite well. Cost? ZERO.  Success!
Never even needed the snake. :)

BikeFanatic

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 826
Re: Cleared my drains today
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2018, 02:55:34 PM »
Not Sexy, but very cool, one mutaschian step at a time!

Sibley

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7428
  • Location: Northwest Indiana
Re: Cleared my drains today
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2018, 03:14:05 PM »
Get a hair trap for the bathtub drain, especially if anyone has long hair. Cheap, easy, and more than worth the couple bucks.

HipGnosis

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1824
Re: Cleared my drains today
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2018, 10:17:29 AM »
I find the easiest / most efficient way to plunger a tub is to put the stopper in, put a washcloth over the stopper, put a foot on the washcloth (to hold it down) and plunger the overflow.

ducky19

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 765
Re: Cleared my drains today
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2018, 10:50:09 AM »
Reminds me of Bob's Burgers:

https://www.hulu.com/watch/613895

Great job!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!