The poor maintenance of the drain will possibly lead to either having a sluggish draining bathtub or the total blockage in the pipe. What cause such obstructions usually are heavy dirt, other debris and hairs that cannot be simply dissolved. The query here is whether or not you have to call the plumber to unblock the drain or you will attempt on fixing it by yourself.
Here, we will be sharing you the 4 effective techniques about how to unclog the bathtub drain and in just no time.
Contents
1. Clean the bathtub strainer with the Stopper
The bathtub stoppers may be cleaned without or with the help of chemicals. Alternatively, some bathtub stoppers have their screws whereas there are others that do not have. With this first method, you will see how you can unclog the bathtub in three unlike ways – by cleaning the push drain stopper, drop stopper or the levered stopper.
The primary thing that you need to do is by check a bathtub drain stopper. There are clogs that are caused by the accumulated hairs and also with some other debris. It will take five minutes at its most in cleaning a stopper and a strainer to assemble all the things back, depending on what kind of stopper you have. When you feel any uncertainties, call the drain unblocking specialist so it can avoid any damages into the draining method.
You will need the following gears:
- Coat hanger or heavy wire
- Needle-nose pliers
- Screwdriver
- Utility knife
2. Push drain stopper
Initially, you need to get rid of the stopper or the strainer. To complete that, you will need a screwdriver in removing the screw, but, remove a tap before you can unscrew the stopper. Always remember, you have to:
- Select the appropriate fit screwdriver, otherwise you’ll harm the screw’s head and will not then be able to take it out.
- The moment you unscrew it, retain a screw away from a drain to prevent it from losing once you switch to turn the water for cleaning the strainer.
3. Levered stoppers
When the cover of the stopper or the strainer does not have the screw, then you may pull it up through using your hands and remove a tangled blockage. But, the older bathtubs had stoppers in the drain pipe and most of it had the lever on an overflow plate and the cover above a drain.
- The initial step is to get rid of its cover and then clean the crossbars.
- Proceed with unscrewing your plate and taking out that long metal linkage. Wipe every part that you had just taken out, then, run some water in testing the drain pipe.
- When the linkage is crooked or wary, readjust it.
4. Drop stopper
When compared with the levered and the push stoppers, a drop stopper typically had knobs that will assist you in lifting them and unlocking a drain. But, there is a screw set beneath a drop stopper. You will have to unscrew it, then, identify a type of blockage.
One example is that, sometimes it is being wrapped around a crossbar and in this instance you have to cut a wad with the use of a utility knife and also with the needle-nose pliers in pulling out the debris. Sadly, often an amassed clog beneath the stopper can’t be reached and you’ll need a coat hanger or a heavy wire to eradicate it.
Conclusion
Although plumbing isn’t a rocket science, understanding its basic functionalities and the components of a drainage system will save your money and time.
Most of the problems connected to the bathtub clogs are due to having poor maintenance.
Even though it is effective and fast, but, within the short run, applying strong drain cleaner will cause pipe damages. The drainage systems will require normal checks by the professional plumbers.
