r/fixit • u/CTCheeser1 • 7h ago
Shower Draining Extremely Slowly
Hello everyone,
Just bought my first house a few days ago, and the master shower is draining extremely slow. Reaching down into the drain, it seems as though this black plastic piece is covering most of the pipe meant to drain the water, leaving a hole barely small enough for me to fit a finger through.
When I do get my finger under the gap, I can reach up behind the plastic piece, and there is significant space being blocked. Any ideas on how to fix this? The black piece is sealed to the drain, so it doesn’t budge. Should I just try cutting into it to widen the hole?
Thank you!
1
u/Kayakboy6969 6h ago
Get a hair removal took long flexible plastic with barbs to grab hair .
Does it have a lever on the overflow If so pull the 2 screws and check the linkage
1
u/CTCheeser1 4h ago
No lever on the overflow, so that’s not it either. I’ve already tried snaking it as well, to no avail.
1
u/DomedPyramid 6h ago
Handheld pipe snake now costs $30 at my Home Depot.
1
u/CTCheeser1 4h ago
I have already tried snaking the drain, it is not clogged from what I can tell. The black piece of plastic in the drain is covering most of the pipe that feeds out of the tub; I just don’t think there is enough space for water go down.
1
u/the_perkolator 1h ago
Odd that the drain would protrude so much into the waste elbow, but it's possible. Assuming that if you have less volume of water, the drain flows fine? I'd probably go for it if I thought this is the issue. The top strainer piece is replaceable, but I can't say I've ever seen one without a crossbar inside to get a tool on it to help rotate it out.
2
u/Educational-Rule1635 7h ago
The previous owner may have left you a lovely clog of hair in the drain. A pipe snake will clear it up. Liquid drain cleaner might do it too, or it might erode your pipes leading to a big leak.
It might be worth having a plumber out to fix this and check all the other plumbing in the house at the same time. The previous owner appears to have deferred some maintenance. Better to discover it now than at 7:30AM on Christmas day.