What’s Clogging Your Shower Drain?

If your tub or shower has a difficult time draining, you’ve probably got a serious clog down there. These clogs tend to build up over time, but you may not notice water backing up until the problem is very serious. While your tub may drain slowly, or you may see an increased soap residue build up, or that it takes a very long time for your shower to dry out after you’ve rinsed off, by the time you realize you are standing in two inches of water, you have a real clog on your hands.

Causes of Clogs

Of course, hair is one of the main causes of clogs. We all have it and we all lose it in the shower. Hair falls out—we’re just going to have to accept that as a fact, even if it doesn’t really look like you are losing any hair. Especially in the shower, as you wash your hair, loose pieces will escape down the drain, where they can catch on any imperfection or bump on the wall of the pipe. This is usually the first step in creating a clog.

The next ingredient for a clog is generally soap. As we wash with soap, all of the dirt and soap residue are washed down the drain, where they can collect on the hair that is also trapped down there. While it seems that the water should continue to wash all of this down the pipe, nests of hair are good at snagging these particles. One shower will not create a clog, but many showers, over time, washing hair, soap, and other things down the drain, will.

How to Handle a Clog

The first step of handling a clog is figuring out exactly where it is in your drain. Obviously, this may be a job for an experienced plumber, but if you want to go it alone, there are few ways to tell where the clog is. If you have standing water in your tub or shower, you can bet that the clog is before the trap. Beyond the trap, and you will likely see water from other sources (usually the washing machine), bubbling up into the tub.

Whatever kind of clog you have, if it cannot be resolved with drain cleaner, will likely require the services of a professional plumber. For more information about unclogging your drain, call Absolute Precision plumbing today!