Yay! So glad! It’s weird how good it feels to tell a clog who’s boss. Haha.

xo,
s

I knew being a long-time loyal reader (we’re talking – I’ve been around from the start!) would come in handy!! Our bathtub decided it was tired of draining yesterday, and after staring at the standing water for hours, I thought to myself, “Sherry attacked her drain. Time to look that up.” Husband held the rag in place, I plunged to my heart’s content, and BAM! Woo to the hoo! Thanks, Sherry (and John)!!

Hey Liz,

Hmm, we’d hit google and search “screw broke off” or “removing screw fragment.” Good luck!!!

xo,
s

That’s so funny! We tried one of them to no avail. So glad it worked for you!

xo,
s

So glad you conquered that clog! You go girl.

xo,
s

This really might only apply to those with super-hard water – I think that was the reason this thing was so stubborn. After trying all of the usual methods (mentioned above), I actually had a bit of a cry and ended up taking baths in the other bathroom for a few days. Missing showers was enough to renew my anger though, and I found myself back at the scene of the crime, this time with a “One of us is leaving here, and it’s not going to be me!” attitude.

After one last seriously frustrating (and futile) bout of plunging with the new plunger, I came to the conclusion that I was going to have to pull out the big guns – ie, I poured an entire (small) bottle of CLR down the drain – it was literally the only thing I hadn’t tried. And I’m not talking about the new CLR Septic thing – I mean straight CLR, the old original standby for removing lime/calcium buildup. It was just enough to come peeking back up into the tub, so I knew the clog was still there, lurking a few feet in. I let it sit for a good two hours, and it slowly disappeared. Then, I ran straight hot water, fingers crossed that it would miraculously flow out. It did not.

Fine. You want to play that way? Bring it.

I got the shop vac from the garage, attached the wet filter sponge thing, inserted the hose into the drain, turned it on, and sucked everything back out. Lo and behold, TONS of lime and calcium came out, so much that I had to poke into the drain a few times to break it up in order to get it into small enough bits to suck it out. Again, I ran straight hot water, hoping for what seemed like the thousandth time that it would not back up into the tub. But it did. *small whimper*

So the lime/calcium thing wasn’t the entire problem. Several more times, I ran hot water in til it came back up, then sucked it out with the shop vac, hoping something resembling a clog-like alien would emerge as I did (yeah, you bet I was scared), but it was pretty much just water each time (after the initial lime/calcium removal). Feeling in my gut that I was on the right track, I then poured an entire 2nd bottle of CLR into the drain. (ugh, I know, but desperate times apparently sometimes call for chemicals) This time, I only waited ten minutes, then cranked on the hot water and held my breath. And then, I heard what to me sounded like a choir of angels as the water happily, freely, beautifully gurgled out of the tub, and straight down the drain! IT WORKED!!!

No words. The next few minutes seemed like a blur as I continued to run hot water, staring with hesitant glee as it ran out. IT RAN OUT! It was a good day. A very good day.

Bottom line – I think with hard water, the sides of the pipes get gunked up pretty quickly, and much like our blood vessels, once buildup is there, other stuff attaches really easily. A clog of regular shower stuff gathered over time, and then a massive lime/calcium wall on top of that as the water would only flow very slowly at that point (as it eeked around the clog). So my first bottle of CLR busted the wall, and then my second bottle (followed by a rush of hot water) dissolved the gunk clog. Make sense?

Whatever the case, I’m pretty darn proud that I fixed this, sans professional plumber. (I like to think Nate would be impressed, too.) Like you said, Sherry, from now on, I’ll be doing the vinegar/baking-soda maintenance thing. Lesson learned.

Huge thanks again to you Sherry and John for all your info and support here! Very much appreciated!

*hugs*