It’s always a worry – not to mention a severe downer – when you step out of the shower and discover that your entire bathroom is now foot-deep in warm water. Unfortunately, it’s much more common than you might think, as the shower drain has to tackle all hair mixed with soap mixed with skin mixed with shampoo and conditioner – and every other type of shower scum. You could call the plumber right now, but don’t do that until you’ve tried to learn how to unblock a shower drain all by yourself.
So how should you tackle that hopelessly blocked shower drain, exactly? Well, it does depend on what the culprit is:
1. Hair?
All that shampooing means plenty of hair strands have nowhere to go except the south. When mixed with soap, shampoo and other types of shower scum, it can create a formidable blockage – but luckily, it can pretty easily be dealt with.
With some luck, you can remove the drain cover and pull it out by hand. If you grab a decent chunk, follow it up with a kettle of boiling water.
2. Object?
It’s unlikely you shoved anything significantly large down your shower drain – but your kids might have! Fortunately, unblocking shower drains clogged up with a single object can be easy to solve.
Grab a torch and see what you can see, and with a bit of luck, you’ll spot that baby wipe, matchbox car or Barbie doll head. If it’s hard to fish out, straighten a wire coat hanger and see if that does the trick.
3. Sediment?
If it’s not a hair-soap-scum ball or Barbie’s head, it could just be a gradual build-up of mineral deposits – and the main symptom of that is a slow-to-drain shower rather than a wholly blocked one. It could also be rust, in which case you may need the blocked drain plumbers of Ezy-Plumb to take a look with a CCTV drain camera.
Otherwise, try a flush with some natural drain cleaners, like a mix of boiling water, baking soda, salt and white vinegar. If that fails, try a commercial drain cleaner.
4. Broken Pipe?
It’s just a fact that your plumbing pipes – like you – get older. Unfortunately, that can mean corrosion, degradation or actual pipe breakages, which ramps up the likelihood of a blockage or even worse.
Just be aware that any significant plumbing work will require the help of a fully-licensed plumber, even if you think you might be a whiz at replacing a damaged section of pipe.
5. Installation?
Another common cause of a blocked shower is installation problems, particularly if you’ve tried some DIY or just completed some renovations like an extra bathroom.
Fix Your Blocked Shower With Ezy-Plumb
And this will be a job for Ezy-Plumb to remedy! Because whether it’s the shower, the kitchen, an external drain, a blockage, a leak or something else, you can always trust the friendliest team in Bayside Melbourne.
Our fully licensed and highly experienced Melbourne Bayside plumbers will rush to your place with a fully stocked van and all the best equipment and know-how to solve your problems. Give Ezy-Plumb a shout today.
