shower bath tub drain plugs--how to remove

[chanfish]

sorry to sound stupid but my teenage daughter's bath/shower tub is draining slow and i would like to remove the stopper to see whats going on..same with bathroom sink stoppers.. any ideas welcome thanks...

[Tom7227]

On my tub/shower I unscrewed the overflow and there was a rod that ran down and hooked onto the plug. It sort of came apart by moving the pieces around as they were hooked together instead of a solid type fastner. On the sink there's probably a deal on the drain that has a rod coming out of it and the rod is hooked up to the push rod that you move up and down to open/close the drain. You have to unscrew the cup that holds the rod into the drain pipe and then you can probably just lift the plug right out of the drain from the top.

Hey, it's hair. Lived through it with 2 daughters. Teach her how to take it apart and you'll both be ahead of the game.

[sparcebag]

If its a older house it'll have a settlement box below the drain in the pipe somewhere.look for it ,it should have a cleanout on it. If its a newer house go under the tub,or through the access hole behind the faucet wall,and remove and clean the trap.

[ironrangegemneye]

I cleaned out my wife's tub since it was draining slow and found a big glob of hair and soap scum. Just to let her see what the actual problem was with her tub not draining, I left it in her tub to see. I did clean it up after she saw it and was grossed out.

[echo2010]

I am having the same problem with my kids' bathroom.

We have a drain the twists up to open and down to close. I can not for the life of me get the drain out without fear of breaking the drain. This is a downstairs basement and replacing that might be tricky.

It has a screw holding it on but WD40 isnt touching it.

Any tricks on how to get this off? I may have to call a plumber if I cant get it.

I have pulled some things out from under the plug, including but not limited too : Hair, hair ties and covers for disposable razors

[backlash 1]

It is a philips head screw. Use the correct size that fits the head. If it is already stripped out, you're probably gonna have to drill out the screw.

[echo2010]

It is a philips head screw. Use the correct size that fits the head. If it is already stripped out, you're probably gonna have to drill out the screw.

It just wont budge!

How do you "drill it out"?

[backlash 1]

The screw is just a set screw maybe 1/4" long. Just use a drill bit and drill out the screw.

[Surface Tension]

Look underneath, theres lot of different types of stoppers and how they've connected. You might want to get to the clog from the trap instead of removing a stubborn stopper.

Oh yeah, hair balls clogs, aren't they nice.

Might as well have fun with them. Tie it to a piece of mono fishing line and put it under the couch. You know the rest, freak some people out.

Make a Blair Witch circle thing out of sticks and attach the hair clog in the center. Hang that on the trail to your deer stand. You'll have the woods to yourself.

[ironrangegemneye]

It is definately interesting to see what form of the clog you will find in my wife's sink or tub. The most recent tub clog could have been mistaken for a dead and rotted mouse. Attaching it to a piece of fishing line would have been a great prank to pull.

To get this clog out of the drain, I took an old metal coat hanger and bent it in the form of a hook and went in from the tub. It was amazing how much that little piece of metal was able to pull out of that drain.

[Surface Tension]

Here you go.

[ironrangegemneye]

Wow that looks like it works slick.

[Gus]

Menards sells something called a zip strip. It's basically a reversely barbed white plastic flexible stick. You shove it down the drain and pull it back up. The barbs catch all kinds of hair and crud. I use them all the time. They come in a 2pack and are just a few bucks.

[Shack]

Menards sells something called a zip strip. It's basically a reversely barbed white plastic flexible stick. You shove it down the drain and pull it back up. The barbs catch all kinds of hair and crud. I use them all the time. They come in a 2pack and are just a few bucks.

Shoot, I knew someone would know about this and post it before me as I started to read this thread

That thing is great and you get 2 of them for about $3-$4 in the two pack.

I used to take apart the drain and use a needle nose pliers, but not any more. Just push that things down the drain and my wife’s hair ball comes right out. It works about the same as the drain snake.

I would say about every 6 months my drain starts to clog. I hated it and put off taking apart the drain until it was to the point of not draining at all. Now if my wife or I see the water starting to back up, we just grab the white strip from Menards

[chanfish]

i went to menards yesterday, bought the zip strip (3.89) went up to the bathroom and pulled out one humongous hairball about 14 inches long and beyond gross.. it worked great..thanks gus for the tip...made my weekend. had to kinda play it coming back up like a big fish but man o man it has like northern teeth and once it latches on it's not letting go!!!

[Shack]

That is cool it worked out for ya. Those zip-strip's are the cat's meow when it comes to sink or tub clogs

[Tom7227]

"I used to take apart the drain and use a needle nose pliers, but not any more. Just push that things down the drain and my wife’s hair ball comes right out. It works about the same as the drain snake."

Sure it's all hers? We put a deal over the drain that had a cup shape to it and holes to allow the water to go down. It caught the stuff before it disappeared. A short training session with the youth and they even learned to clean it up.

[Dellfin]

Those strips are the best. Just make sure that you perform the actual clean-out when your wife isn't around and then moan about what a chore it was to disassemble the drain, find the source of the source of the plug, and reassemble the drain. Showing the misses the hairball is the icing on the cake. If you play it right, you'll soon be sitting in the recliner and she'll be asking you if you need another beer.

Now, the risk here is that the next time it will happen is when your 350 miles away on LOW and she's threatening to call a plumber. In a panic over the cost, you're going to need to come clean and tell her to find that plastic thing that looks like some prehistoric fish skeleton hidden behind the plunger and slide through the drain a few times. She'll soon realize how easy that really was and you'll need to find a new way to be her hero.

Sometimes being Mr. Wonderful is hard work!

[echo2010]

Well, update on my tub drain.

Well, finally got the drain plug up and use one of those plastic zip things purchased at Bomgaars And realized one scary thing

My daughter is part wookie.

[hondarider550]

Well, update on my tub drain.

Well, finally got the drain plug up and use one of those plastic zip things purchased at Bomgaars And realized one scary thing

My daughter is part wookie.

Wookie?????? Wow

[echo2010]

Originally Posted By: echo2010

Well, update on my tub drain.

Well, finally got the drain plug up and use one of those plastic zip things purchased at Bomgaars And realized one scary thing

My daughter is part wookie.

Wookie?????? Wow

It was all horrible...and i am scarred forever.