When it comes to bathroom plumbing there are a few essential tips that can save you money and plenty of headaches. Knowing how to fix a clogged shower drain is a skill that’s important in keeping your plumbing system working correctly.
Even if you believe you know how to prevent a clogged shower drain, clogs happen in all plumbing systems, and they usually happen when it’s the most inconvenient. But before getting to the actual solution, it’s important to understand what causes clogged shower drains.
What causes clogged shower drains?
There are a few things that are known causes of a clogged drain, one of the main culprits being your hair. Naturally you lose several loose strands of hair in the shower, which can add up over time and start to cause a problem in the drainage system. Same goes for the countless amount of dead skin cells that are lost during each shower.¹
One of the best ways to prevent a clogged shower drain is to have an efficient drain stopper. One of the top choices, a toe-tap drain, is typically the most common because of how easy it is to use and its convenience. You may be wondering, what is a toe-tap drain and how does a toe-tap drain work? A toe-tap drain is a spring-loaded drain stopper that can be open and closed by simply pressing it down with your toe.² A toe-tap drain allows less things to fall in than a standard drain.
How to Clean a Clogged Shower Drain
As far as how to clean your clogged shower drain, it varies depending on if you have a drain stopper. If you do, raise the drain stopper to an open position and remove it from the drain hole. You may have to remove a screw depending on the type of drain stopper.
Once it’s removed, simply clean all the debris off and place it back in the drain hole. Make sure to check to see if your problem is solved. If you don’t have a drain stopper, then you may have to snake a tub drain. This method does use certain tools, but is possible to do it yourself instead of having to call a plumber for a small issue.³
How to Fix a Toe-Tap Drain
Although, a toe-tap drain allows less debris to fall in, items can still get into the drain such as hair. However, you can fix a toe-tap drain pretty similar to the process above:⁴
- Raise the drain stopper to the open position
- Remove the outer cap from the drain hole, removing any screws if necessary
- Clean off the debris
- Place drain stopper back into the drain hole
If you notice your shower drain becoming clogged frequently, try using a drain basket or drain screen to keep out unwanted items such as hair.
If you aren’t able to clean out your clogged shower drain using this method, you may want to try using a do-it-yourself solution before you decide to call a plumber. Either way, it’s smart to know about how to clean out a clogged shower drain and it’s important to be knowledgeable about your manufactured home plumbing. Also remember, in the winter you should keep an eye out for signs of freezing if there are bad smells coming from your drain.
- “4 Common Causes of a Clogged Shower Drain.” 6 Negative Effects of Alternative Energy | DoItYourself.com. July 13, 2010. Accessed June 06, 2018. https://www.doityourself.com/stry/4-common-causes-of-a-clogged-shower-drain
- Stickley, Aaron. “Types of Bathtub Drain Stoppers.” The Spruce. January 30, 2018. Accessed June 06, 2018. https://www.thespruce.com/bathtub-drain-stopper-types-2718995
- Henkenius, Merle. “Clear Any Clogged Drain.” This Old House. Accessed June 06, 2018. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/how-to/clear-any-clogged-drain
- Hurwith, Jacob. “How to Remove and Clean 3 Types of Drain Stoppers.” The Spruce. February 15, 2018. Accessed June 06, 2018. https://www.thespruce.com/remove-tub-stopper-clear-a-drain-2718786
Kenneth (Kalley) Young's Content 