Signs you need this fixed
- Gurgle from the sink when the toilet flushes
- Sour smell from the overflow or the trap
- Grey ring around the basement floor drain
- Washer drain spitting back up the standpipe
Telltale signs in tubs and vanities
- A ring of grey water standing around your feet halfway through a shower.
- A basin still holding water long after the toothbrush is put away.
- A sucking noise from the tub when the sink drains.
- A musty smell from the overflow slot.
Any one of these points to buildup close to the fixture. Several at once, on different floors, suggests the stack or the main and deserves a closer look.
Removing stoppers and clearing hair
Start with the easy part. Most pop-up sink stoppers lift out once you loosen the pivot nut behind the drain pipe under the basin. Tub stoppers either unscrew, lift and turn, or come out with the overflow plate. Pull the hair out by hand, wipe the parts and put them back.
A cheap plastic hair-grabber tool snakes down past the stopper and hooks the rest. That is often enough. If water still drains slowly, the clog is in the trap. Bathroom traps under a tub are usually behind an access panel or in the ceiling below.
When the clog is past the trap
If hair and soap are gone and water still lingers, we feed a small cable through the overflow or trap. Once past the trap, the line joins a branch that may also serve the toilet and sink. Cast iron and galvanized steel in older homes build up scale, and every bit of scale catches more hair. In some cases the honest answer is replacing a short section of corroded pipe instead of cabling it every few months.
Simple prevention
A ten-dollar mesh hair catcher in the tub saves most calls. Brush long hair before showering. Keep bath oils and thick conditioners to a minimum, since they coat pipe walls. Run hot water for a minute after the last shower of the day. And skip chemical openers; they rarely clear hair and can damage older chrome and brass parts.
What is included on the visit
Tools on the truck
- Drum machine with 3/8" cable for trap arms and stacks
- Jetter with a rear-firing nozzle for grease
- Sectional machine with root cutter for the main
What we open
P-trap, cleanout plug or the floor drain grate
How we test it
Fill-and-drop test on every fixture on the branch
How the job runs
Ring the line
Say what is dripping, backing up or banging. Water still flowing? We guide your hand to the valve first.
Find the cause
The plumber traces the fault, with a scope or gauge where one earns its keep.
Pick the fix
Options come in everyday language, and nothing starts until you choose.
Repair & prove it
We finish, run the water to prove it, wipe up and leave a short written record.
Calls we field, answered plainly
What makes the basin burble while the bath empties?
They share a branch. Air being pulled through the sink trap means the branch is partly blocked or poorly vented.
Is it safe to remove the tub overflow plate?
Yes. Two screws hold it. Keep track of the gasket behind it and put it back in the same position.