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Blocked Bath :(
sunsetbeach
Posts: 1,232 Forum Member
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Please help!
Normally if the bath is gonna block then when we're having a shower and it gets to ankle level we put some Buster unblocker and it sorts it. No such warning and tonight the bath is not budging. I put some Buster unblocker in the water over an hour ago after plungering for ages! But nothing! Do you think it will work overnight? It's not moved an inch.
What else can I try?
Normally if the bath is gonna block then when we're having a shower and it gets to ankle level we put some Buster unblocker and it sorts it. No such warning and tonight the bath is not budging. I put some Buster unblocker in the water over an hour ago after plungering for ages! But nothing! Do you think it will work overnight? It's not moved an inch.
What else can I try?
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It says they did in the OP...
Yes my other half spent an hour with the plunger. He was getting rather grumpy so I went to the shops for some chemicals!
No as I said it normally gets to a point where we can tell but the shower drained this morning no problem but after giving my son a bath we took out the plug and nothing! I can't go to work without having a shower in the morning!
If you can, disconnect the u-bend trap, clear it out and fit it again. Ours is just a plastic waste pipe and is a push-fit.
http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-a-Clogged-Waste-Pipe
If drain cleaner clears it are you putting fat down the sink. This can cause all sorts of problems.
Do you have a hair catcher over the drain? If not, get a wire coathanger and bend it into a long strip with a small hook at the end. Stick that down the drain and fish about, see if you can bring up any clumps of hair. That might help.
And for emergencies when you can not use the bath always have a bucket in the house for shower.:)
Depending on what is in the drain unblocker already used, this could be a VERY bad idea.
Hopefully the stuff in there already has done the job overnight and cleared the blockage somewhat.
Call a Plumber, I went to a Jockey's house in Newmarket where he had brought the ceiling down doing exactly what you advise. With modern baths the overflow is only a flexible pipe pushed onto a stub above the Trap. Doing as per your advice can and did force the overflow off, resulting in a full bath of water going under the floor and the hall ceiling came down. Remember A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous thing.
my flat was flooded from upstairs by just this, as was my opposite neighbour by her upstairs.
The first is that it is probably hair and that once cleared getting a hair trap/sink strainer thing is recommended if you do not have one. We have one for all our sinks and the bath and once the plug comes out to drain the bath water then the strainer goes in straight away. We have a pop-up plug thing but just fish it out and pop the strainer on.
Second point is that when blocked drains come up as a subject there is very often advice to use "product A" or "product B" etc. Drain cleaners can contain some very strong chemicals. Some are very strong acid, others are caustic soda (very strong base) and mixing them or mixing them with other chemicals (e.g. bleach) as spimf has pointed out could be a very bad idea. Read the instructions carefully and pay attention to the safety notes on any drain cleaner you use and particularly any comments about what they can and can't be mixed with. There can be some nasty reactions if incompatible chemicals are mixed.
I just put Duck tape on the overflow and use a plunger, works every time.
Those reporting floods from the overflow coming off must have incorrectly fitted overflows and you also have to question why the bath is full of water to allow that much of a flood?
Plunging is much quicker than using chemicals which always takes time so that wouldn't be the case.
Nah... there other folks who are capable of unscrewing a few bits of plastic too. I was gonna suggest that dismantling the u-bend is as difficult as tying a shoelace but then I realised a lot of folks wear slip-ons.....
No. I love doing jobs like this. I think I was a plumber in a previous life!:D:D