Please help.. Bathtub drain issues

[Doug Albert]

Hello.. I am having some issues with my parent's tub and I cannot figure it out. They are retired and on a fixed income, so I'm trying to do this stuff myself. The tub drains very slowly.. This is what happens. For the first 30 seconds or so, it drains quickly. It then stops for a little bit, then "belches" and drains again. It repeats this until the tub gets about 1/4 or so full. Then the little water vortex forms and it drains the rest of the way.

It appears to be a venting issue somewhere in the line. I have checked the vent pipe on the roof and it is clear, so the tub is venting through the vent pipe. Can someone please tell me what or where the issue might be? How do I get the venting in the line?

By the way, the sinks drain slowly as well sometimes. I'm thinking that these are all tied together.

PLEASE HELP!! It is greatly appreciated!

 

[Standardairconditioner]

You didn't say if you checked the traps of both the tub and the sink, so I must assume you did not at all.

Check both traps by removing the cleanout, and if there is no cleanout, you must remove the whole trap. The shower trap may be accessible from the ceiling of the floor underneath.

With the traps removed, it may be a combination of hand snakes, hand drum auger, electric auger.

All this may be beyond your abilities to DIY, if so you may need to call a professional.

You might want to try browse posts around the forums here, you will often find much insight and solutions that may apply to you, and avoids others from repeating the same things all over again. An existing thread may be more tailored to your specific situation.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dj2]

If you are in a one story house:

Look into the bathtub drain with a flashlight. Do you see any obstructions, like hair? If yes, try to fish it out. If not, run a narrow manual snake and see if you make any move forward, pull the snake out and see if any hair comes out. Run the water and if there is no change, your blockage is deeper.

For deeper main line blockage you will need a bigger electric snake and run it from a roof vent.

You will have to: 1. have the equipment or rent it,
2. know how to use it correctly.

Too much for you? call a drain tech, we have them here running all kinds of specials, for very low prices. They fix most drain problems. If they fail to clear the line, or if they clear it and it clogs again shortly, you will need a camera pipe inspection,

 

[Smooky]

I would snake the tub. Here is a decent video. It also shows a problem with the stopper:

 

[hj]

IF it were REALLY a venting issue, then it would be because you have an even larger problem elselwhere. No way to diagnose it without being there and doing our own testing.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

More often than not, slow tub drains are caused by hair and buildup on the stopper mechanism. Depending on the style you have, it could be a 15 minute fix.