I know you’re going the organic route, but have you tried plain old Draino?

You may have tree roots in clogging your shower line in your yard, its about 300 bucks for a plumber to come clear this all out.

I think you need professional help… sounds like it is not clogged from the tub end of the drain. I think it’s clogged from the outside. We had a rental house that had a similar issue (and was a similar age) and the pipes had tree roots growing in them out in the yard. So no amount of drano or snaking from the tub side would have fixed it. Good luck!

Ok, so our first home was built in the 1950′s. We had a similar problem with our kitchen sink. The smell was awful! We are TOTAL DIYers but in the end had to call in professional help. Boo, I know. Even though it was our kitchen sink that was clogging, the clog was about 50 ft away in plumbing underneath our kitchen… we would have NEVER cleared it ourselves. Apparently, it’s a problem with older homes. What did people used to put down those drains anyway??? I have empathy for your situation. It was a total bummer not to be able to fix it ourselves but glad that someone could do it. Good luck!

Hopefully, your problem is not as bad as ours. We, meaning my husband, tried everything. We got the nasty chemicals out, the gross hairballs out, etc. Nothing worked.

We ended up calling a Rotorooter plumber (who had to drive 50 miles, because no one local could fix it)and there was a crack in the pipe leading out to the street and soil and a few tree roots decided to cause problems by slowly seeping into the pipe. The water couldn’t get through. It does now.

We had this happen a couple weeks ago… showered in the morning, didn’t pay attention to the tub draining, and right before leaving for work realized it wasn’t draining. We didn’t have time to work on it much then, other than the plunging thing that gave the same results you’ve gotten. We left it, intending to come back after work and take care of it (fingers crossed nothing happened during the day, of course). When we got home, the tub had drained on it’s own and was fine. We ran some super-duty drain cleaner through it and haven’t had a problem (knock on wood) since. I can’t remember the name of the drain cleaner, but we got it from Home Depot for about $8-10, and it was in a plastic bag due to the hazardous chemicals. I hope this helps!

See if the tub will drain completely (say after a couple of hours or non-use.) If not, still okay.

Squeeze a BUNCH of Dawn detergent (the plain old kind) over the drain, let sit for an hour or so, then get a bunch of really hot (i.e., boiling) water and pour over the drain area. Time after time, this has unclogged my drain due to Dawn’s amazing grease/grime-fighting abilities.

Home Depot sells a professional drain clogger that is very much not ecofriendly nor green, but it’s potent and it works. A plumber once poured this into our clogged drain and charged us x2 retail + $50 for the visit. If you end up exhausting all your planet friendly options, this is probably what a plumber would do next anyway.

I don’t know the exact name, but it’s something generic like “professional drain cleaner” and it comes in tiny granulated pellets, not liquid or powder. It’s a hard black plastic container covered in a clear plastic bag with lots of toxicity warnings. You dump it into your drain and let it sit as long as you can manage. We used it overnight, and in the morning the bathroom smelt like burnt hair. Gross, but if you do really get desperate, there ya go.

As far as prevention, get some “stop a clog” drain covers for your shower, and pick the icky hair up off of the drain cover and throw it in the trash or flush it down the toilet after every shower. Two drain clogs, and picking hair off of them right after every shower, has completely prevented us from needing that super toxic stuff since we started the habit.

Good luck!

P.S. Are you having problems with other drains? If so, it could be your main sewer line…in the fall and spring, I always get tree roots blocking the main line.

And in response to the folks who are suggesting tree roots, we’ve had this same problem too. But you’d have slow drains all over the house, not just the tub.

But if you do determine that to be the case, the toxic stuff I commented on previously has treated our root problem by dumping it down the toilet rather than the bathtub drain.

I agree… it maybe roots. Such a pain, but fixable. I think you may have to have someone out to check it and make sure, but there are things you can use to keep your pipes clear of them in the future.

Good luck!!!!

This happened to my boyfriend’s sink and he tried this:

http://www.kleerdrain.com/store.aspx

It scared the crap out of me because he lives in such an old place and I was worried about the pipes – but it worked great. It’s been several months and no issues. Appears to be a green choice as well . . .

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/green-drain-cleaners.html

I second the recommendation for using boiling water, although I haven’t tried it with Dawn soap. When this happens to our drain that’s what we do. We typically use our largest pot and boil the water, add it to the drain, and repeat the process another time. Works like a charm almost every time in our 100+ year old home. We only had to get professional help one time at the beginning of our home ownership but since that time our boiling water remedy has worked.

Our house is 70 years old and we are all too familiar with plumbing issues. At this point, it probably is in your best interest to call someone out there to take a look at it. We recently had to have someone come out because our drains were backip up. We were sure that it had something to do with tree roots in the sewage line. Thank goodness, it was just a clog outside of the house that was easily taken care of with this handy tool the plumber brought (and then let us keep!). My suggestions to you since you are in an older home – use Root Kill every 4 to 6 months (or as directed) and use the same plumber/plumbing company every time you need to have someone come out because they will be familiar with the history. Good luck!

I had this problem and tried every single eco-friendly method out there. I finally got fed up and bought the cheapest, most toxic drain-o on the market. Much to my dismay it worked like a charm.

We have an old house (1940′s) and have had the same problem with complete drain stoppage. We used a product by the name of Thrift from the hardware store. It worked and we haven’t had to repeat it yet. Not sure if it is eco-friendly but it worked for us.

We had this problem in the kitchen sink. My husband tried and succeeded clearing the pipe with Liquid-Plumr Power Jet – http://liquid-plumr.com/products/powerjet.html

Good luck!

We had the same problem with tree roots causing back ups as posters have described above. Our back-ups were with the toilet, but never the tub.

When we did have an issue with the tub not draining properly, we did several of the tricks mentioned above before realizing that the mechanism for the drain itself was broken. The trip lever was in the “up” position as the default. Since it was a rental house, we fixed the problem with a pretty sack of stones that kept the drain in the “down” position.

Hi Youngsters! We have an older home (1930) and we find that when the drain doesn’t clear by removing the clog from the tub (the hair), it means that the clog is in the pipe that goes to the street. My husband will snake the sewer pipe in the basement and this clears the drain. In fact, he just had to do it again last week but every year or so he has to do it. He explained that after so many years, the walls inside the old pipes get gunked up more easily which then makes the water hard to pass thru, kinda like a dam building up. ewwwww. Good luck!

I did a little research online and if you have metal pipes there could be an issue with rust/corrosion. It sounds like the clog is not near the actual tub drain area or you would have gotten it out already with your other attempts. Good luck, hope things “clear” up soon!!!

If you do manage to find a product that gets this job done and is still ecofriendly, I’d love to see that endorsement!

We had a similiar issue with our kitchen sink. Water just stopped draining one day and then backed up because it happened while we were running the dishwasher. It was disgusting! After we tried everything we could to the sink(baking soda-vinegar-hot water solution, drain snake and Draino), my husband went downstairs to our basement to look at the pipes. He was able to narrow down which pipe was the kitchen sink pipe and looked for the curved part of the line. He took that apart and pulled out a chunk of uber grossness and it worked! Our pipes are 65 years old (and will eventually need to be replaced) have clogged up twice since then (kitchen sink and batroom sink). Hubby followed the same procedure to un clog the problem line. We’re now trying to do the baking soda-vinegar solution once a month for maintenace and haven’t had a problem since.

We’ve had issues with our bathtub drain and the only thing that unclogs it is CLR Power Plumber. It’s basically a can of pressurized air. I got it at Meijer but in Virginia you can probably find it at Walgreens or Rite Aid. I HIGHLY recommend this stuff.

If it is anything like our old apartment, it is probably years and years and years of old hair balled up in there. I am not sure how to get it out (we were only staying there a year, so we didn’t want to fight with the landlord about it). We just used a plunger to get it flowing again. It worked for a few months, but then started clogging again just before we moved out.

But once you do figure out the solution, make sure you have one of those little fine-mesh drain covers so that extra hair doesn’t clog it again. As someone who sheds hair constantly, you’d be surprised how much hair you don’t see fall out but causes lots of problems (think burnt out vacuums, clogged drains, those nasty little hairballs that form in the dryer).

This won’t help your current situation but I have a suggestion for the future… mostly for Sherry. I come from a long line of super-shedding woman and the thought of wet hair in the shower freaks me out (your video in this post almost made me hurl). I also wear my hair back almost everyday, so my hair doesn’t naturally shed as much as a hair-down gal. I have a really nice, stiff, bristle-y brush that I use before hopping in the shower. If cuts down on the ick-factor and on the amount of hair that makes it down the drain.

If it’s a tree root problem, this probably won’t help, but what’s worked best for me– better than DRANO or any other commercial drain product– is regular Clorox. I pour about half the bottle down the drain (so make sure to have open windows, that stuff really stinks. Although I like the smell, but that’s probably just me!), and it really works. Good luck!!

I wish I could help but I threw up in my mouth a lot after watching that Zip-It video. OMG what if there is a Sasquatch in my tub? Good luck with the tub!

Hey guys. You didn’t mention if it’s the original plumbing and what the pipes are made of, did you?

Kind of weird, but we used this on our bathroom sink when we had the same problem….Nair. We just bought a bottle, squeezed the entire thing into the drain (It will come out the top, but that’s okay) and let it sit overnight. Haven’t had any problems since! I hope you get it fixed soon!

in these desperate cases we use the drain cleaner from home depot that comes cased in a plastic bottle but also wrapped in a plastic bag (this shows how nasty the stuff is). I’m scared to go near it, but my husband uses it on the drains once in awhile when needed & it’s the only thing that works. Sometimes you just have to call in the big guns chemicals

I would suggest you put an ad on Craigslist for a swap with “will whip up a free design mood board for wife of plumber, if wife convinces plumber husband to fix our drain” :)

Hey youngsters! Me and the hubs have the exact same problem. House built in 1934. My hubs is a water and wastewater specialist(yummy I know)He says houses in those days had metal or steel piping. Not pvc. The problem is created by corrosion(aka rust)of the old metal pipes. Basically,he says your pipes are growing together from the inside causing the blockage. Solution= He says if you have tried all of the above, the pipes will more than likely need replacing. I wish I had better news, but trust me I feel your pain! Good Luck! :)

I forgot the “fix drain for free”

I’m afraid you are going to have to ditch the organic methods this one time and bring in the big guns (the harsher chemical liquids mentioned above) I totally agree with the comment above about prevention. I started sticking the wad of hair on the shower wall before it even makes it to the drain and throwing it away afterwards. No clogged drains since!
Good luck. It’s such a pain to have something like that happen.

We had the same issue last week! Call a professional, he will come in and fix it in a few minutes. Then buy a screen for your drain and curse yourself for not buying the screen sooner. $3 screen vs. $200 plumber bill. Yep, wish we had the screen earlier.

If you snaked the drain 25′ boiling water and other remedies will not work. The clog is at least 25′ into the pipes. You could try draining the water with a shop vac and using some very potent chemicals to dissolve the blockage. If that doesn’t work you you will most likely need professional help.

Hi Guys :)I agree with a few others, the same thing happened to us too. It started in the guest bathroom, then our bathroom then one toilet!We tried everyting! Finally we called a professional plumber and he cleared out our pipes from our house through to the city’s pipeline under our street. He said older homes had obviously older pipes (even though we had some replaced)and the low flow toilets we had were causing a blockage (because they use less water = power to push things through)!

I’d strongly suggest biting the bullet and calling a professional. It may be a variety of things–since you’ve tried all the obvious home remedies, you are probably better off having someone look at it We’re in a 1929 bungalow, and have had some odd plumbing things–a couple of them would have been made worse if we had tried to use heavy duty chemicals. A good plumber fixed the problems, and told us what to do to prevent them in the future. And while it did cost money, it wasn’t as bad as we would have thought.

FWIW.

I have your solution!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my drain! And it did the EXACT same thing a few years ago! We have the same type (1950′s house in Northern Virginia.) We tried everything, and even paid several plumbers, when it happened. Each time, it got a LITTLE better, but didn’t fix the problem. one plumber told us we needed to replace the line, for about $1,000.

That was not the problem!

The weight inside the drain (that the toggle thingy controls) is supposed to “open” and “shut” it by lifting a weight on a chain (all inside.) the chain thingy, weight and the whole apparatus had corroded, and it was basically blocking the drain–so it was permanently “shut” even when we opened the toggle. (i think maybe even the chain had broken in there, and the weight was just sitting in the opening.) the solution was SO easy once we figured it out! we removed the whole guts in there (pulled out the chain and weight that attached to the toggle) and now the drain works like a charm. It is permanently “open” now, so we use a rubber stopper if we want a bath. it was a free fix. i can’t believe that we paid hundreded of dollars to plumbers to snake it, and dumped all those chemicals down there. post or email if you have any questions. don’t suffer like we did for several years!

Just read your kitchen sink drain post from last year. Sounds like the same issue I’m having at our rental house, with the dish washer holding water. I’ll try the boiling water trick. TIA
If your able to get to the plumbing under your tub you should try a drain balloon. It hooks onto a garden hose then you place it in the pipe, turn the water hose on and the balloon inflates then pushes the clog out. I did this Monday night at the rental and it worked on the sink, but when the dish washer is used the sink clogs again. The drain balloon costs $10.99 at my True Value.

I agree with the vika. Liquid Plumr power jet works like a charm.

Get to Home Depot. They sell a product – can’t remember the name – that has cleared every clog I have had. It’s in a plastic bag – that’s how caustic it is. You have to wear gloves or you will burn your skin. Pour it in, put a bucket over the drain and let it do its work. It works and it’s cheaper than a plumber.

My husband and I like to do things ourselves, but we’ve learned that when it comes to plumbing, if the simple solutions don’t initially work, it’s best to go ahead and call a plumber. We learned this the hard and expensive way, trying to solve “small” fixes ourselves, which we estimated would cost us $50 max to do it ourselves. Two separate plumbing visits at $2,000 total, plus two new holes in our walls, solidified that belief. So our vote is to quit wasting your time and money, and just go ahead and call in the professionals. Good luck!

John, if it’s galvanized steel, that could be your problem. The stuff actually corrodes in pipes, which is why it isn’t used today. But houses built in the 50s often had drains made of it, which is now a problem.

Good luck.
-k

If it’s original pipes, it’s probably galvanized, not copper.

Hi Youngsters!

We had this exact problem 2 weeks ago. We tried everything under the sun to open the drain, plunger, snake, draino, boiling water, and nothing worked. We had to call out a professional and it landed up being a clog in the sewer line.

We have a 50 year old ranch also and if yours has the original plumbing (which it sounds like it does) you probably have roots and rusting and a host of other things you’ll be dealing with over the next few years. The pipes are basicly growing barnecles inside the pipes causing blockage. The iron/steel pipes you no doubt have in your basement/crawlspace are only good for 40-50 years(so we just learned from our plumber) and may soon need replacing!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you should get a professional out there ASAP. You don’t want to lose your plumbing completely like we did for an entire day! Ahhhh, the joys of owning an older home. : )

Good luck guys and keep us informed!

I always say, when you buy your first house…one of the most important people to make friends with is a good plumber! I have a 1923 Cottage Home, this same clog happened in my laundry tub. After liquids and snaking, the plumber simply cut the pipe, pulled out the gunk, and were were free and clear. The pipe can be saudered back together…which the plumber can do for you.

So maybe you two could offer some great interior design advice with a plumber and get a trade system going? Keep those plumbers close! :)

My husband and I use a semi-enviro-friendly solution called “Pequa” that we buy at Home Depot. It’s safe on almost all pipes which is a relief because some drain cleaners can harm some materials. Anyhow, we have a method now where we pour half the bottle in the drain, let it sit for half an hour, and then with the drain closed fill the bathtub up with water. We then open the drain and all that water pushes through the pipes dislodging anything that was blocking it up. I hope this helps (and I hope they sell Pequa in VA)!

The drain snake has always worked for me. I have long hair and the clumps the snake pulls is beyond gross yet some how exciting to see how much I can pul out! I have to unscrew the drain cover for the snake to work properly.

Hope you find a solution soon!

I vote with the non-eco-friendly products just this once! Being a single gal I’ve learned all the easy fix-it tricks I can and Drano gel (it comes in a red bottle) is my poison of choice for such clogs. For about $6 your troubles literally go down the drain. Use your microfibre towels to rinse out the tub later and you’ll feel better about the earth. Good luck!

I just looked and the thing I was called a drain snake is called the Zip-It but I see you already tried that. Again, it worked better for me when I took the drain cover off to do it.

Good Luck!

we’ve had great luck with those cans of compressed air (not the ones you’d use on a keyboard – they sell ones specifically for plumbing) – it forces air through and can sometimes push an obstruction out of the way. Good luck!

We had the same problem and thank goodness that my husband once worked as a plumber and knew what he was doing.

http://oldaddress.blogspot.com/2009/06/if-youve-spent-any-time-here-in-past.html

A note about the pipe – it’s probably not copper as it’s a drain line you’re talking about. My guess is that if it’s the original plumbing, the pipe is cast iron (a standard waste/vent type of pipe).

I agree with others who have posted that you should probably call in professional help with this one – since it sounds like the clog isn’t near the tub, but rather further along the branch – professionals have the tools and knowledge to troubleshoot and fix the problem.

I know you guys like to stay as green as possible but this might be a job for some heavy-duty chemicals.

I’d try a $6 bottle of Draino from the grocery or home goods store before calling in a professional. We’ve had some nasty clogs before that nothing helped and were about to call in a pro when Draino saved the day. Be sure to get the gel kind in the red bottle. It’s for extreme clogs.

I hate to say it, but I think you’re going to have to call in a professional. We just had to have a plumber come out the other day for a clog that originated in the kitchen–hubby snaked the pipes, but the clog was too far in. Fortunately we purchased a home warranty and the whole ordeal only set us back $60. On a positive note, we didn’t have to use any chemicals!

Good luck, y’all!

I used successfully many time a thing shooting gas that expands when in contact with water.

I don’t remember the name but it is in a blue box and basically it is a cartridge of gas plus a handle and a rubber top to block the gas from coming back of the drain on your end.

Only thing is to be sure that your plumbing can take it

The same thing happened to us in an old house where we rented the first floor. We tried the organic tricks but they didn’t work – here is what else we tried:

We unscrewed the top of the drain thing (on the side of the tub) and pulled out a lot of hair. It helped some but not a lot.

A book suggested we hold a wet towel over that unscrewed drain while we plunge the actual drain – nadda.

In the end, what worked like a charm, was pouring an entire bottle of draino in there and letting it sit for a few hours.

After that it would start to clog occasionally, and we bought draino crystals that we would use 1x a month or so to keep it from getting *that* bad again.

Alternatively, use draino now and then buy a mesh net to put in the drain to catch all the hair – it really works and you can get them at the dollar store.

Good luck!

I know this is not funny a topic but oh my goodness, I am laughing so hard!! That video just made my day :-) I’m sorry, I have no imput on how to help but I think John’s reaction was classic – ha!!

Unfortunately I don’t have a solution for you, but I do have a tip for the future. Instead of buying one of those drain screens, you can simply make one yourself using pantyhose. It lets the water get through, but will trap hair from clogging your drain.

We had this happen to our kitchen sink last year, and tried everything. We finally called in professionals, who used an auger machine so big it took up most of our kitchen! But they fixed it- the clog was more than 50 feet into the pipes. We would never have been able to clear it on our own.

I have just learned a lot about plumbing because we had to replace ALL of ours – which is actually easier than trying to solve a problem like this, I’m thinking! Yours are probably galvanized steel. I think you would know if it was copper, and ours were steel before we replaced them. Do you have access to your pipes? Maybe not because you don’t have a full basement, right? My suggestion was going to be see if you have any cleanouts, i.e. a cap you can take off elsewhere in the plumbing so you can snake from another direction. But maybe you don’t have easy access like we do, and anyway cleanouts are more common in modern plumbing I think. And actually the drain weight thing suggested by Heyruthie sounds possible…

I had this happen once. And my toilet wouldn’t flush all the way either. I ended up having to get the pipes snaked.

I would call a company that specializes in clearing out sewer lines… they have a motorized device that sends a rotating blade down through the line to clean out tree roots or whatever all might be in the way.

I have this done to our sewer pipe once per year.

I’m no plumbing expert, but when showers clog up like that it’s either the beginning signs of a septic tank that need to be emptied out or a major plumbing issue down the line somewhere from your clogged bathroom drain. I’d call a professional – don’t lose another frustrating day to it!

Sounds like my shower drain! YUCK is all I can really say. When I went to Home Depot with this same problem, I was in search of a snake when some nice wanna-be plumber who works there told me this : “a snake will not do the trick because it will just push whatever if clogging the drain depper into the pipes.” so he suggested this and I love it. but be careful…its POTENT!

http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Materials-Plumbing-Plumbing-Accessories/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xnaZascv/R-100169339/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Hope this helps!

O goodie. I had a very similar situation happen to me last Friday. We noticed our tub was acting funny, then it got worse. Our bathtub drain was showing signs of slow-water-draining. Then, I went to our basement to do laundry. Just a small amount of water came out of the drain. THEN, when we flushed the toilet, the drain wouldn’t go down. We tried everything just like you. We had to call a plumber. It was tree roots. Even though none of our other drains were plugged, it still backed up the water in these areas of the house.

I would call a pro out. Someone that is highly recommended by a friend or family member. Hope this helps!

It sounds to me like it might be an issue with your main line vs. the drain as others suggested since you already snaked it 25′. I’d suggest having RotoRooter clean your main lines. They usually charge around $50-$100.

Whatever you do, do NOT use sulfuric acid drain opener.

I used it in my condo, at the recommendation of my hardware store’s owner, and it destroyed my tub’s enamel as well as the chrome on the drain of both the tub and the sink. It turned it black – burnt it – not in a way I can remove. My landlord’s going to have a fit.

I recoommend a pro. you may have roots or something invading your pipes way deep in the ground.

funny story:

i am 27 and newly divorced. (bummer) after one month of living on my own i decided the house was too much for me alone so i decided to rent out my 2 front rooms. company and help with bills what could be better!

the first night my new roomies (still strangers) moved in i went to bed first and woke to the whole house flooded! every toilet, sink, tub, and the water heat had poured out yuck water.

how embarrassing for me and awkward for my new housemates! one of them said they stared the washer and then the flooding began. he thought he had broken something! (poor guy was scared)

called out RotoRooter and there was roots in the city main. what a mess!

OMG… I almost just threw up. Sorry… but I did!! Yikes that video was NASTY.

We bought our house just over 2 years ago and the first year and a half we were constantly battling slow drains in the upstairs bathroom. Both the sink and the shower… it was such a nightmare. We had them professionally snaked and the clog would just come right back. Finally we found a product called Instant Power Hair and Grease. It’s not very environmentally friendly and comes with all sorts of death warnings and a plastic bag to keep it in, but it works like magic and since using we never have problems with the drains anymore.

It costs about $8 from Menards (don’t know if you have that near you… I think it’s a Midwest store), but check your hardware store for it. Here is a link to see what it looks like. http://www.scotchcorp.com/draincleaner1.html

And the bonus is that it’s Guaranteed to work or your money back so no harm in trying.

Good luck!!

I have heard that a 2 litre bottle of Coke has enough acid in it to clear a clogged drain. I have poured a can of Coke into the toilet after it seems to be backed up (we have an old house too) and it seemed to fix the problem. It sounds like you may have a more serious problem than hair or toiletpaper though. GOod luck!

We had the same thing happen and the clog was not in the shower but between the shower and toilet. Our plumber had to snake the toilet to push the clog away. I would suggest trying to treat the adjacent areas such as toilet and bathroom sink. ( Sometimes you just have to call in a pro.)

Sorry, I don’t have any suggestions… I just have to say I laughed out loud when you said “sherr-ball” and at the same time I thought about how much I would not like my husband to phrase it like that….

My husband and I are both VERY hairy. The only thing that works for us is “Drano hair removal” We get it at the hardware store. Total poison – not environmentally friendly, but it works.

This happened to my husband and I the day we bought our new house! Needless to say, we were frustrated and scared. We called the builders and they sent out a plumbing company (for free, so I can’t tell you about the price)….the clog was so deep in the plumbing, there was so way drano or anything was going to fix it. Nevertheless, Drano isn’t a bad solution….I would try that first, then call in the pros.

Best of luck. The joys of home ownership!

Plumbing issues are the worse….
I hate to say it you might need to call a plumber….We had a tub issue too, earlier in the year. Not fun! Our tub was draining very slowing, we though it’s an older home to be expected. Well one night I was doing laundry (thank god our washer & dryer are in the garage) When I heard a gush on water. The water from our washing machine empties into a sink/basin in the garage…well this time it overflowed and water was pouring into the garage.
The remaining water backed up into our tub! Nasty and left cringe worthy stuff! Then our toilet would no longer work, it would flush then backup into our tub! Again NASTY! We tried all home remedies, I called my dad crying about the ‘lemon’ we must have bought etc. etc. LONG LONG story short, it took us calling the county (praying it was their issues) and two different plumbers to fix the issue. The last one located our cleanout (outside) and removed a bunch of tree roots and debris among other things. It’s been almost a year without issues (knock on wood!)

Call a plumber and make sure they will stand be there work an offer your a warranty!

Eek!

We’ve had luck with using “green” materials on clogs. We’ve poured 1 cup of baking soda followed by 3 cups of boiling water and 1 cup of vinegar down the drain and then quickly put a rag over the drain. After a few minutes, ran the water and the clog was removed.

Hope it is not something more serious.

Snake that drain! Also, the last time this happened to us it was the drain mechanism.

My fiance is an electrician for the water company here is St. Louis. He says if you haven’t done it yet, pull out the stopper from the tub and check for hair clog. I am sure you have done that already, though.
He also recommended the enzyme stuff.
When our kitchen sink backed up he tried everything from the kitchen end and nothing worked. He ended up having to
borrow a 3.5 gallon-per-minute power washer from work with a cutting wand and head and then he tackled it from the basement end. This was disgusting, smelly, and incredibly messy, but he dislodged a ball of steel wool the diameter of the pipes. Since you guys have a crawl space, he recommends a plumber.

We had a similar problem and called a plumber. He used and recommended this product: “Thrift” http://www.thriftmarketing.com/thrift_drain_cleaner.htm

It’s worked for us many times. The problem may be finding a place that sells it. He directed us to a local plumbing supply store. You might have luck calling the Thrift company and asking if they know of places in your area that sell it. Good luck!

WIRE HANGER!

My tub was doing this… twice.. the first time I called in a pro, he snaked it and got it free. it started acting up a week later, called the pro again, he used a hanger (untwisted, to be straight), jimmied it a little and oila it was fixed. nothing else. so while he was there i told him my dishwasher was backing up. again he used a hanger. oila! i had to pay him for something i had in my closet.

its worth a try!

Guys, I really appreciate your Blog and check in often! Thanks~

I will apologize in advance for the book to follow and suggest that you not include it all on your comments listing!!! I’ll just let my plumbing knowledge ooze out for your use!

I have a house about the same age as yours and of similar design (plumbing chaos and all)… only difference is that I totally replaced all my drain plumbing with updated PVC. You probably have Galvanized steel pipes as your drain lines and though they are not the greatest in enduring life’s flushes, if they were responsible for the clog (say they are rusting) you would more than likely also have a leaky pipe. Be careful what products you put down these pipes and be careful with how hard you snake them. This comes A) from the Galv pipe standpoint (weak pipes are easy to break) and B) from the septic/public sewer aspect (be careful what you put in your tank)! With that said its important to remember that your pipes are all different sizes from top to bottom. The drain from the tub could be 1-1/2″dia. (or less) which may drain into a 2″ dia. pipe eventually leading to a 3″ or greater dia. pipe leading out of the house! Now with the little plumbing knowledge that I have acquired over the years (and having a basement drain clog at 26′ when I only have a 25′ snake) if you aren’t having any other drain issues in the house then your clog is in the immediate area of the tub and said tub does not share this drain line with any other fixture! So first try all your supply fixtures and make sure they all drain properly and don’t cause the tub to inadvertently fill. If another fixture causes your tub to fill then you know the clog is past the junction of two drain pipes. I have an unfinished basement making it easy to access plumbing! From what I’ve seen of yours you may not have that luxury! I agree that your problem is not tree-root related but it may be a clog caused by the junction of one pipe into the other (and this could be under slab). In essence you probably need a longer snake (who says size doesn’t matter)! Whether you hire one or buy one that’s up to you. Also remember that each plumbing fixture in your house has a vent on the roof that (most of the time) is located directly over said fixture drain line. This can also be used as a snake access point! Hope any of this may be helpful – God knows I could have used a little help when my clogs came!!!

Home Remedy Fix – after you have some sort of drainage movement take a whole two or three liter bottle of Coke and empty it down the drain. Works every time just watch out for rusty pipes Coke really eats stuff!!!

Good Luck and Happy Fushing

Steve

My drain had some issues a few weeks ago and I had to climb on the roof and snake the air vent pipe that is associated with my bathtub drain. So anyway, get a professional. (Unless you’re crazy like me).

When I moved into my apartment, the tub took hours to drain. I used half a bottle of draino and that seemed to do the trick. I think you guys may need professionals!

(Maybe use some buckets to dump the tub water into the sink so it’s not just sitting there!)

I wouldn’t try Drano or Liquid Plumr or any other chemical drain cleaner. If it doesn’t work and you have to call a pro, that stuff will still be in the drain when they are working on it. Because it’s so caustic, they could be injured. Don’t get me wrong, I use the stuff periodically for slow drains that I know it will work on, but for something as tough as this, go with the pro and don’t make them muck out a drain with all those chemicals in it.

I forgot to ask, do you have a cleanout? Outside? See my loong post above….you may have to start there. Your problem is deeper then 25feet

Ugh, what a bummer. We had the same thing happen and my husband ended up replacing the trap and all the old pipes below because they were corroded closed. Not too expensive, but luckily he knows something about plumbing and could DIY! I’m sure you guys could figure it out too! Get the Home Depot 1-2-3 Plumbing Book!

We also had THE EXACT SAME problem a few weeks ago. I have a brick house built in 1965 that looks almost exactly like yours and I love to get ideas from your blog. We tried all the same things and it did not budge! My husband is pretty handy and seemed to know what he needed to do, so he crawled under the house and took the P-trap(?) off and pulled out what looked like a miniature version of Harry and the Hendersons. Has worked like a dream ever since!! Don’t call a plumber if you or John is willing to crawl under the house and play around. You should be able to google instructions.

We just had the same problem. We tried everything we could too. I have very long hair… the arch nemesis of drains… so we had to call a plumber. $120 later, the tub clog was gone. He used some sort of auger-type tool. It was quite messy. The bathroom walls, the floor, everywhere was splattered with tub yuck but it was worth it. It drains so quickly now. It was worth it.

I’m no help. However, the hubster (being a plumber and all) might be. However, he’s working out of cell range today, so I wouldn’t be able to call and ask. But if another plumber doesn’t kick in and save the day, I’m happy to ask when he gets home tonight!

My husband and I had this same problem at our previous house. The only thing that worked for us was the sulfuric acid drain opener. It’s true that it will eat away at the tub and the metal drain cover, but we used a funnell and removed the drain screen before doing it and it was fine. However, that stuff is REALLY potent and you have to be very careful!! I prefer to go the eco-friendly route whenever possible, but whe it’s between at least a $75 plumbers visit or an $8 bottle of that stuff, I go for the bottle. Good luck!!

I know you don’t like chemicals but the extra strength Drano or similar product always works for me!

I admit that I haven’t had time to read all the responses. I just wanted to share what worked for us.

Our drain was clogged last year for three weeks while we tried everything under the sun to fix it. Finally we bought a piece from Lowes that fits on the end of the water hose. You put the whole piece in the drain and turn on the water. The piece expands to the size of the drain and sends a blast of water through the pipes. Cleared our right up! We did have to go in through the overflow valve with the water hose because we couldn’t get a good fit by going through the drain. (For the life of me I can’t think of the name of the piece that fits on the end of the water hose, but you can get it in the plumbing dept!)

Well we tried all that too when our tub backed up, ended up calling the Roto-Rooter people. They had to run 150 feet of snake out to find the problem, which turned out to be roots. We have a lot of trees, and he said every other year or so we should have someone come out and get the roots out again, since they will grow back through the pipes. Really nothing we could do ourselves. We have had to do it twice in three years now. Maybe, maybe not???

This is a long shot – but the last time we had a tub that would not drain, it turned out the chain that attaches the drain stopper to the little lever that moves up and down had come undone. So in fact our drain wasn’t clogged by any debris – it was clogged by the drain stopper. Reattaching and tightening the chain fixed the problem. (PS – I hate clogged drains – so frustrating, and showering in standing water just feels so gross!)

A similar problem happened in my old apartment last year. Needless to say, after trying everything, they discovered that the clog was really far down, which resulted in ripping out my neighbors’ bathroom ceiling to fix it. Long story short, I would get a plumber.

:giggle at “Sherr-ball”–I can relate! I have no words of wisdom. Anything that can’t be fixed with a bottle of liquid foaming pipe snake and I’m in over my head. Good luck!

well this has happened to me twice. The first time I called roto-rooter but it was too expensive. They used an electric snake but that can be dicey if your pipes are old. This time I called a guy who only clears drains. He told me to NEVER use draino or any chemical but only boiling water and baking soda. But sometimes that is not enough since the pipe might curve around. He had to open the pipe in the basement and get the giant hairball/greaseball out (yuck I know). I have gotten smaller clogs freed with boiling water but if you’ve tried all that then maybe just dip into that savings jar and call the pros!

Good Luck!

My “Mr.Fix-It” hubby said that it is most likely not a tree root, or all of your drains would be backing up. He said if it’s just the bathtub then it is most likely the trap (between the tub and where that drain connects to another drain)If you can get to the trap under the house or in the basement you may have something “stuck” in there.

My husband uses something called “COPPER SULFATE” to kill tree roots. It is somewhat of a gravel consistency so it wouldnt’ go down the tub, but if the toilet and tub flow into the same trap, maybe you could flush the copper sulfate down the toilet. I’d check with a professional or the guys at True Value first though.

We had a similar situation with our bathtub. Did the finger fishing (gross), stuck a chopstick in to fish deeper. We (and I use “we” loosely) managed to get some balls out, but what finally unclogged the drain was the good ‘ol shopvac. It brought up a whole whack of nasties. Not sure if your clog is happening a lot further down, but it might be worth a try before calling in the pros.
All the best!

Unfortunately, I will also have to vote for the chemical drain cleaners. We had the same exact problem in our bathtub about a month ago. We tried EVERYTHING (because I hate, hate, hate using chemicals) . . . we even broke our auger trying so hard!

So, feeling low, we went to Lowes and asked the plumbing specialist. She suggested all the stuff we already did . . . but when we told her we were unsuccessful, she said to try the chemical stuff. However, she also said if even that didn’t work — it might actually be our pipes. I don’t know if you have PVC or galvanized pipes, but sometimes the galvanized variety actually close in on themselves as they age, and you need to manually replace them. Just a thought — maybe go to your local hardware store and talk to the plumbing specialist. The one at our Lowes said there’s no reason to call a plumber — and that even replacing the pipes shouldn’t be too difficult to DIY.

We’ve used the bacteria based stuff, too. It actually made the plugged up drain worse, but we then used a snake to dislodge all the digested hair, etc, and it totally worked!

Good luck!

Hey sorry to say, but I think you will want to call the pros in on this one. It could be tree roots getting to your problem, and if that is the case it is not a DIY. Good luck youngsters!!

You probably just need a much longer drain snake. We stopped up our kitchen sink in the middle of preparing Thanksgiving dinner for 20 family members last year (FYI – Don’t put massive amounts of carrot peels in the garbage disposal). I eventually unclogged it but it was waaaaay down there. I had to use a 40 foot snake.

One time my drain did this and I went to the grocery store and bought a can of aerosol stuff. I can’t remember what its called. But you put over the drain and push down on the can. My husband (who is a plumber) couldn’t believe I had wasted $5 and was sure it wouldn’t work. Luckily he was wrong!

But I can’t help but think in your older house with big trees it could be another problem. When I lived in an older rental we had the same problem and it turned a true root in the middle of the road was causing the blockage.

I hope it’s something simple! Good luck.

We’ve lived in several houses the age of yours and when we end up with a shower clog that doesn’t clear with the usual methods, it usually turns out to be a problem of tree roots getting into the line that runs away from the house. The first time, you need to have the “rooter” people come out and use their long auger thing to clear out the roots. After that, it can be maintained by giving it a little dose of root killer liquid once a month to keep the roots from growing back. And, yes, it seems like this crops up after a good bit of rain that gets those trees all excited and spreading those roots.

So, yes, you need to call the guy. :-( But you can keep it from happening again in the future. :-) Good luck!

We had the same experience a few weeks ago! I wanted to go environmentally friendly, so we got a product from Home Depot called Terracycle Drain Cleaner. As much as I wanted it to work, the entire bottle didn’t do a thing for our sink and I was hesitant to buy any more eco-products. I vote Drano – it was the only thing that helped! Good luck!

My handy Zip-It usually does the trick, but I recently mentioned to my plumber (I recommend that everyone have a good plumber, HVAC guy, auto mechanic, and doctor!) that I couldn’t get the Zip-It to work in one of the bathtubs. He pointed out that the tub had one of those “stoppers” like you have in your tub shot. He said that with that particular system, I have to remove the face plate for the tool to work properly. This is an older home, with lots of trees–A couple of times, I’ve had to pay him to climb onto the roof and snake out all kinds of tree roots. If your sewer line has clay pipes, who knows WHAT’s growing in there!

This, I’m afraid, is the reason chemicals were invented, so it’s either enviromental green or wallet green that gets sacrificed here. I did 3 kids in cloth diapers, so I don’t feel too bad about the occasional bottle of Draino. Good luck, Youngsters!

We had a similar drain issue and came to find we had tree roots that grew into our piping!! Unfortunately we had to have the pipes replaced. :( Hope you two have better luck

Totally unrelated to your drain issue, but do you guys know that your ad server is serving up ads that say “don’t let public schools teach about homosexual marriage”? All opinions on the matter aside, I was a little shocked to see such a polarized, totally unrelated to your web site, advertisement here. I’m all for free speech, but I came here to check out your cute house, not for political smear. Just thought you guys might want to know what your readers are seeing….

That happened to me a couple months ago– turned out to be tree limbs that grew into the septic tank and had to be cut and fixed

I didn’t have a chance to read all of these comments…but your problem reminds me of a similar problem I had with my laundry sink in the basement….

long story short version…

nothing would clear the clog until I realize it was the sink upstairs that was actually blocked too…cleared the upstairs sink with a plunger and then they both drained properly.

air flow in pipes can be just as important as water flow in turns out.

Good Luck
Hugh

I just had this problem 2 weks ago–nothing I tried would work. Found a plumber who worked at Home Depot and he recommended a prodeuct called “Crystal Heat Drain Opener”. After a few times, it did the trick. 2 capfuls down the drain, run a bit of water, and step back. I had to do it 2 or 3 times, but it cleared it right up and no standing water to my ankles for the next shower. It’s not chemical free-but it’s going to take some to break down whatever’s in there. He also recommended that you used it periodically to keep it from getting clogged again. They should have it @ True Value. If you try this and it works for you, I’d love to know about it. Good luck!

So sorry to hear my Zip-It suggestion didn’t work for you! It definitely worked for me, and it was gross (but nowhere near as gross as that video).

Now I have a little metal strainer from Home Depot (http://tinyurl.com/yjmr93j) to catch my thick curly hair (or paint chips!), and I empty it every time I shower.

I have an enzyme product from Whole Foods, but I haven’t had much success with it. Good luck!

Perhaps its haunted? ;o)

I haven’t read through all of the posted comments, but here are my suggestions: First, remove the cover of the cleanout/overflow drain (the round metal thing in the tub below the spout that sometimes has the drain plug lever on it) and snake the drain through there. If you still get no results, try the plunger method again on the drain in the bottom of the tub, but make sure the cleanout/overflow is sealed off (otherwise the suction action from the plunger won’t do anything). If that still doesn’t work, make sure the vent pipes that exit the roof don’t have bird’s nests, dead rodents, or other pipe-clogging debris. Those vent pipes are essential to preventing a vacuum that would cause water not to drain (aside from venting dangerous sewer gasses out of your house). Hope this helps and good luck!

I’ve used this several times and it always works like a charm. Several other people have mentioned compressed gas – this is the one that’s worked for me. Good Luck!
http://www.shopclr.com/CLR-Cleaners-1/CLR-Power-Plumber-Drain-Opener-Can

I sure hope you don’t have galvanized plumbing…this is what happened to us when we moved into our house. Everything started to back up (sink into other sinks, bathtubs, etc.) We had to dig up the pipe and re-pipe the area. Don’t mean to scare you, but this sounds all-too-similar.

One more thing. That drain cleaner in the plastic bag people are talking about I believe is called “Hot Power”. It is a very stong acid that actually heats up in the pipes and eats right through the clog. If you use too much it can actually burn right through PVC (plastic) pipes as well as ruin your tub or shower. I would only use it as a last resort and I definitely wouldn’t use it for “routine maintenance”.

Our problem like that was the trap in the tub. We called in a pro to replace it and it works like a charm now. Sometimes you just have to call in the pros.

last week, i had a bathroom sink issue and i did the baking soda/vinegar/wait 10 minutes/add boiling water thing about 5 or 6 times… not TOTALLY clear but running way more smoothly!

Hi there

I had same issues and went for the soft approach then the hardcore chemical version. You maybe able to feel the heat of the reaction and be able to tell how far down the blockage is. Possibly because the pipe is not angled enough for grease and the hair to flow quickly enough away and therefore build up in the pipe. I ended up having to trace the pipe outside and taking off the screw cap ends and sticking a rod up from outside in, a few plops later the problem was fixed. You may not have the luxury of this option though.

This happens in our tub and I’ll admit it is because of my shedding problem. If your tub looks like the picture above: unscrew the round piece off along the tub wall, stick a plunger over the drain on the tub floor, and go at it! Some stuff may come out of the tub wall hole…or just loosen it.

We were told to do this by a sewer man (who actually did it for us the first time) who came to our rescue when a tree root was taking over our drain pipes! He cleaned out the roots and took care of my hairballs. It worked and we have since had to do it again with success. Hope it helps!

Just happened to us….I recently read that 90% of all clogs are hair related…..we tried everything…even pouring bleach down. We got some liguid plumber….1/2 bottle waited 15 mins…ran hot water…didnt work…repeated the process and SUCCESS…..

Good Luck

This sounds extremely similar to an issue we’re currently dealing with. After thinking it was resolved after a few rounds of a chemical-free homemade Drano, it came back with a vengeance. We finally broke down and called Mr Rooter and found that we were the not-so-proud owners of Orangeburg pipes. We have an early 50′s house such as yours. Apparently this is when it was widely used as they were saving any metal they could for the war. Anyway, per the Wikipedia site, it’s life is around 50 years – which holds true in our neighborhood as 10 of our neighbors are currently having the same problem. The Orangeburg is basically a thick cardboard and starts to collapse which means we are all having to replace the sewer line. It’s a very costly repair, so I hope that you don’t have this issue, but I’d call in a pro for a video inspection before it gets so bad that you can’t use the water without the basement flooding. Good luck!

I wish there were an environmentally safe option I could recommend, but barring tree roots, this has always worked for us. It is called ProPlus Drain Opener (professional strength). Yeah, big POISON caution on the front (contains sulfuric acid). We rarely have to use it, thankfully, because I hate thinking about the ingredients. But sometimes it is the drain opener, or the plumber.

I encountered a similar situation in my home, we accessed the plumbing line in my basement by removing the trap and snaking towards the stack to remove the offending hairball.

As far as tree roots go, I have mine rootered every 2 years in my 1940′s home. That encounter was a little different it impacted water draining from my kitchen sink, dishwasher, bathroom and washing machine. They all appeared to drain fine but then backed up in my basement, from a drain opening there. It was awesome.

I choose not to use chemicals, my understanding is they can be hard on older homes plumbing. If you go the rooter route have your pipes scoped first to ensure they are not the kind of pipes that can be destroyed by rooting.

I’ve delt with this in the little guys bathroom because those bath crayons tend to find their way into the drain at times. They melt and clog up the pipes like crazy. Unfortunately, I’ve tried everything and the ONLY thing that would even budge the clog was an acid solution I picked up at True Value. It was professional drain opener and it was so scary it was wrapped in a plastic bag. I was scared to death using it – just had this vision of blindness – but I put on my rubber gloves and poured it down the drain and it cleared it up. I know it’s not organice by any means, but sometimes you just gotta bring out the big guns!

hey sherry,

i’ve literally dealt with this problem dozens of times in various properties and this little tip from my contractors has always worked:

http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-dirty-little-bleach-secret.html

cheap, too!

kelly

p.s. if it’s a root problem, they sell inexpensive products at home improvement stores that should alleviate the problem. i believe the one i used in the past was some sort of powdery stuff from home depot, and it did the trick.

probably an obvious question, but did you check the basement drain/s?

when I have had sewer blockages due to tree roots, the basement drains flood.

btw, cool that you are painting the basement, I can’t wait to see pics!

So the clog is not in your shower trap, which is why none of the typical things are working, AND the 25ft snake didn’t even work. You need some serious snaking which means a professional. Sorry.

-m

I have an ancient bungalow, and have had this problem before. I ultimately called the plumber, but I know you kids like to do things yourselves. I hate to disagree with the masses, but if you have complete and utter blockage, you are way past chemicals. Chemicals work when you have a slow moving drain but the whole theory that they are heavier than the water and will sink through to the clog is a fairy tale, plus, as someone else already said, they will sit in the pipe and possibly harm you or the plumber if the pipe has to be physically opened. So, in my humble opinion, complete blockage of a single drain pipe calls for a power auger, which I swear I think can be rented from Home Depot or Lowe’s. It will have an insanely long metal hose thingy that unwinds and will go to the point of the clog and shake it free. Good luck!

I’ve seen a couple people suggest this product and my husband and I have used it before too and it works! It’s called Liquid Fire. It’s in a red bottle and comes in a plastic bag. The guy at the hardware store said it was the best stuff. It only costs about $7.

We rented an auger from Home Depot. There’s usually one or two accesses outside that you can insert it into. The people at Home Depot will give you a tutorital on how to use it too.

“Touch Me” I would love to have an IPOD Touch and I would add a design your home app or a personal shopper app! Both would be free by the way!

Bummer. Been there, too. After all the other stuff and much hang-wringing we even used the gross chemicals. Only temporary relief. Plumber came, fixed it. “Why didn’t we outsource this to begin with?” Good luck!

what works best for us is sticking the wet/dry vac hose down the drain and suck all the crap out. i am going to warn you…it stinks, quite literally.

I have no suggestions for now, but for the future maybe invest $3 in one of those wire mesh drain covers. I got one a few months ago and I can’t believe I went this long without one. And judging by how much hair it catches, I’m surprised our shower hadn’t clogged more often.

Is the plumbing original to your old home? I only ask because we lived in a 1952s ranch home for a few years and we had the same problem as yours (except ours was the bathroom sink). We tried everything to fix it, but then we had to call in the professionals. Basically, it was an old home with old plumbing, and things just needed replacing. Perhaps you have the same problem?

We had the same exact problem several months ago. We tried everything, even our 25-foot snake. Finally we called one plumber and they gave us this whole shebang about the age of our house and its pipes and how he’d have to go through the wall and redirect them and bla bla bla for $2,000. We called another plumber. He brought a 50-ft snake. It took him ten minutes and $80, and we’ve been fine ever since.

I used Draino and left it alone overnight.. came back the next morning and it worked!

If you can get to the pipes underneath the elbow shaped piece might be blocking it.

I had a similar issue in a 50 year old house I tried augering it myself but it was disgusting and didn’t work – You just have to know when to call out a pro. They opened the plumbing access from outside the house augered it with a 100 foot auger – and the problem was cleared out (all within 1/2 an hour).

I agree with the people who said to remove the cover on the drain (the plate of the stopper) and try a long snake–I’m not really sure what the zip-it is like, but in my older house I had a clogged bathtub that only cleared up after using a 25 foot snake/auger. Gross, but it worked.

We try to be chemical free (or really close to it) for as many things as possible. But about a month ago, the drain slowed. (and if I had been smart I would have started with the boiling water RIGHT THEN!) within a few days, nothing was moving and we tried every green solution we could think of. As a last ditch to calling the plumber, we used a bottle of Liquid Plumber and a few hours later – totally clear. Now we try and maintain it better so hopefully we dont have to go chem extreme again.

My husband and I had a similar problem in our old house. We always solved it using Drain-O. I did send my dad the link to your post and ask for his opinion (he is a plumber) and he said:
If it is just like this one with the flip handle on the overflow, it has a spring in it that is full of hair and grease. You have to take the overflow top off and pull the spring out and clean it, then pull the drain plug out, put the top overflow back in, adjust the drain to hold water and that should do it. Or call a service plumber and let him take 20 minutes to do it…(about 125.00)
Hope this helps you!!!

We had a clogged pipe in our laundry room right behind the washer machine. Resulted in a huge mess and the water backed up all over the floor! Any how, after trying a wet vac over the pipe opening and an auger/snake we were about to call the plumber when on as a last ditched effort decided to try Kleer Drain that we had seen the HD. Looks something like a short pogo stick and it shoots carbon dioxide cartridges down the drain to blast the clog. It makes a LOUD bang, but it worked! My husband used all 4 cartridges, but truthfully I think by the 2nd or 3rd it was unclogged– he was having a little too much fun with his new toy.

Draino hair remover………recommended by a worker at Home Depot and it solved our problem.

DRAINO! I know you want to be chemical free, but you also want to be able to use your shower without standing in ankle deep water… It really does work every time!

It looks like you have a plunger style stopper. Scroll down to the “plunger tub drains” how-to on this link:
http://lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/RepTubDrn.html#7

You might have to really pull to get the plunger and linkage out, clean them up, then do SEVERAL rounds of baking soda/vinegar with a 1:2 ratio (more vinegar), followed by a kettle-full of boiling water. That should do the trick, especially since you pulled that gnarly gunk out already.

My reply probably isn’t the greatest thing to hear. We had a very similar problem (our house is about 50 yrs old too). We tried everything! Nothing worked, so my husband actually had to redo all the plumbing underneath. Not very fun! But, it works GREAT now!

OMG!OMG! I was saying it with you at the same time but I would look away. lol Everytime I would peek, you were still showing that. lol OMG!

We had some horrible draining issues in our studio when we first moved in. I came up with trying to use our WetDry ShopVac and it worked amazingly!

We took the drain cover out of the bathtub, created a seal on the plumbing system (a person at every drain in the house, compressing with a washcloth) and set the ShopVac to blow out. The entire system was cleared out within a few seconds.

Our bathtub has finally started getting clogged again (blame my thick curly hair), so we’re going to do this soon.

If you don’t know anyone with a WetDry ShopVac, I think they’re also available to rent at some stores.

Good to know that wasn’t your hairball Sherry. That was a nasty video.

I’ll tell you what always clears our drains… in fact, my husband and I do it as a preventative measure twice a year.

We use a drain cleaning bladder. You get the right size for your drain, hook it to your hose, and clear out the drain. FYI.. be sure the entire rubber bladder is in the drain before turning the water on. My husband tried it once with part of the rubber sticking out and it had “explosive” results.

Here is a link to one on amazon.com but they are cheaper at home depot. We’ve never purchased one online. They are reusable too, no hurting the environment, etc. Give it a try.

http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-Products-332-Cleaning-Attachment/dp/B000KKOZ6A/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_text_b

We always use a type of drain cleaner that comes in a black bottle, sealed in a plastic bag. It practically has a skull and crossbones on it.

Use that and it will be gone. Doesn’t matter if you have an entire body stuffed in those pipes, the black bottle will dissolve it.

We just rented a snake, the industrial kind, from Home Depot. For $25.00, we snaked two slow shower drains, and a sink. Then we leant it to a neighbor. Cheap and effective.

Bleach. Not environmentally friendly I know, but a gallon down the drain every 6 months has kept our tub blissfully clog-free.

This may not help because you have tried all of these things separately but we have old plumbing in our house and two girls with very long hair so we need to try these tricks once a month. What we do:
1: Baking soda / vinegar trick
2. After 30 seconds poor BOILING not hot water down the drain
3. Plunge, plunge, plunge

This always works and the two times it didn’t we used drano crystals. They are not nice for the environment so we avoid them but in two years of living here we needed to use them twice.

Hope this helps!

Yuck…this sort of situation definitely makes a person love their house just a little less!!
Unfortunately, this same situation happened to us, but in our kitchen sink! ew.
We tried a bunch of things also and finally ended up calling in a professional (make sure you shop around for quotes! I originally called the guy that had his card taped to our garbage disposal – 2x the price of another guy I called!). Turned out that the clog was all the way back to the street level – no wonder our snake wouldn’t work!
Good luck YHL!

Go in the basement or crawlspace and see if you can take the trap off. There might be a clog in there or at least you might be able to get the snake farther in than through the tub drain. Or you can see where the tub drain meets the toilet (should be close) and maybe figure out something from there.

I would guess it has to be in the tub line if the toilet and sink nearby are OK. Unless the lower volume of water from those 2 are just sitting in the pipes and you can’t tell they’re clogged.

I saw something recently on flylady.net called the Hey Tom Clog Cannon that gets clogs out with forced air-no chemicals! They also have a YouTube video!

You could try the “Hey Tom Clog Cannon”…haven’t personally tried it but it looks interesting anyway. :)

http://www.flylady.net/pages/flyshop_cc.asp

I think the baking soda thing only works as a preventative measure- you have to do it every month or so to keep the drains clean.

If you do call a professional, remember to not seem desperate. A lot of companies make a LOT of money off of people who are desperate and need it fixed yesterday.

We had a similar situation and used an entire bottle of liquid plumber, Problem solved. I’m actually a little surprised you didn’t try that already. (I hope that doesn’t sound snarky…I don’t mean for it to!)

I have been on the road and am just getting caught up on the blog. I know you fixed the problem at this point, but wanted to add my two cents. I had a similar problem and did just what Jessica’s dad suggested and the problem was fixed! Not my hair on the spring as I had only been in the house a couple of months at that point. At least I, and you too, know what to do to fix it now. Easy also!

Yah – I can’t wait for the details. I have a bathroom sink that is doing the exact same thing and I am stumped. Cant afford a plumber right now, so spill the beans :-)

I know it’s been fixed already…..however…

Drano Max Gel Clog Remover. Pour it down, leave for 15 minutes…. I live in an older home, I use this stuff once every 60 days to keep things draining quickly. Cheapest at Target. It’s the red bottle.

http://www.drano.com/

So glad you all figured out a way to unclog your drain. My boyfriend and I used the zip-it and it worked- similar to the guys experience in the video only our hair ball wasn’t as long. However it was still disgusting and very smelly.

Fun stuff!

Glad you got your problem solved…we had a similar problem and a plumber friend of ours suggested that we not waste money by buying Liquid Plumr and the like but instead pour plain bleach down the drain (probably not healthy for the environment, I guess), followed after about 10 minutes by hot water. It worked after nothing else did.

We live in a rental built in 1950 and have this drain problem from time to time in the shower. My husband works for a Hardware store, so he brought home Floweasy Drain opener. I will warn you, poor it down the drain and you guys take Burger out for the day. Its powerful.

I have REALLLY long hair, its down to my hips. I have to clean the drain 3-4 times while showering to keep water flowing. I have lots of back up issues, my trick…SALT. wait 5-10 minutes the flush with boiling water. i haven’t tried it in standing water over an inch so not sure that it would have helped with a ton of water.

that video makes me want to throw up….ewww

Thank GOD That wasn’t your hairball!!! That was by far the most disgusting video ever!! He said “it smells like death”, hahah Oh my, I love your blog to death. That had me laughing out loud.

‘Oh no we di’innnt’ hahaha I laughed for 5 min after reading that! You have to hurry up and tell us what worked because I have water standing in my extra bath room but AS I TYPE!! Help!

spill the beans, youngsters! the bathroom sink is at a dead standstill as I type…

In 24 years in the same house (built 43 years ago) we have had our share of plumbing issues. We’ve tried it all. Over time, a ‘film’ builds up inside the pipes. When there is a back up, the lowest points fill up first – the tub, then the shower (really bad the first time – backed up to the kitchen sink too).

The best fix has been something called the “Drain King”. It’s about $10 and connects to the end of your hose. You open the nearest clean out (yes, you have to go under the house usually), insert the Drain King and have your ‘assistant’ turn on the water. It has a bladder that expands and occludes the pipe. Then it pulses and blasts the blockage out with water. You just let it run for about 10 minutes and voila!

Only once we had to call a plumber as the blockage was due to tree roots. They cleaned the line out clear to the sewer line.

Only once I had to this myself…after dear husband poured countless bottles down throughout the week as he didn’t want to go under the house. He came out to the back yard just as I was coming out from under the house. A new piece of jewelry now adorns my finger! ;)

I just have to say… our bathroom sink was at a standstill like this, been snaked, drano’d, enzymed, etc… and I broke down and bought the clog cannon from FlyLady’s website, not really expecting too much, but eternally hopeful… I pulled it out of the box, went to the bathroom, and with my husband watching while covering up the overflow hole, pumped it up and pulled the trigger. It took 4 shots, and all of a sudden our oh-so-slow draining sink went WHOOSH! and the water was gone! It is the best investment I have ever made!