Surprise blocked bathtub drain

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Last year a master plumber did an excellent job clearing our 1900 bathtub drain. No problem since. Last weekend friends stayed at our place in Catskill, NY (temp now zero degrees outside) We got here last night and there seems to be no problem anywhere in the house...no frozen pipes, etc. EXCEPT, the tub is seriously blocked as we we told; it took about a couple of hours for two inches of water to go down the drain.
I'm thinking two things, maybe something is stuck in the drain (a kid's toy?) AND I should go buy an attachment for my 1/2" drill and try to clear it myself. Any ideas are welcome.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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Have you seen the zip-it sticks?

3a2f8fd05b4b9444aa01872a5a452d57.jpg


At home I use a piece of coat hanger wire bent into a little hook to pull out most of the hair my girls shed....

I would guess your guest left you some hair. Some soap. A condom. Or a combo of all three in the tub's waste line.
 
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Have you seen the zip-it sticks?

3a2f8fd05b4b9444aa01872a5a452d57.jpg


At home I use a piece of coat hanger wire bent into a little hook to pull out most of the hair my girls shed....

I would guess your guest left you some hair. Some soap. A condom. Or a combo of all three in the tub's waste line.
Very funny! Thanks, but a coat hanger won't get through the trap. I have a Zip It but first I've got to remove the descending pipe behind the tub to get to the trap more easily. If somehow it's further down the line, I guess I'll need to get that drain cleaner attachment I referred to. I sure hope it has nothing to do with the freeze but, as mentioned, nothing else is frozen.
 

Reach4

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1900 drain? With a newer one, I would ask if you unscrewed the plate at the overflow with the drain control and lifted out the linkage? Some of them will catch hair, and cleaning out the hair may let water flow.

Does your 1900 drain just use a rubber stopper?
 
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1900 drain? With a newer one, I would ask if you unscrewed the plate at the overflow with the drain control and lifted out the linkage? Some of them will catch hair, and cleaning out the hair may let water flow.

Does your 1900 drain just use a rubber stopper?
Actually, I removed the linkage when we bought house six years ago. Yes, a rubber stopper, but we never use it. Just came up from the basement...there's no sign of any freezing whatsoever so it does point to something in the trap or after the trap. A couple of inches of water has been standing dead still for an hour at this point after showering. Plunging made no difference so my next trick is to remove the vertical pipe between the trap and the overflow plate and use the ZipIt first, then a mechanical clean-out with my drill, but I've got to wait till the water recedes before loosening the fitting, which is in a VERY tight space. I'm heading out to buy a mechanical drain cleaner now. Thanks very much.
 
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Actually, I removed the linkage when we bought house six years ago. Yes, a rubber stopper, but we never use it. Just came up from the basement...there's no sign of any freezing whatsoever so it does point to something in the trap or after the trap. A couple of inches of water has been standing dead still for an hour at this point after showering. Plunging made no difference so my next trick is to remove the vertical pipe between the trap and the overflow plate and use the ZipIt first, then a mechanical clean-out with my drill, but I've got to wait till the water recedes before loosening the fitting, which is in a VERY tight space. I'm heading out to buy a mechanical drain cleaner now. Thanks very much.
Well, after trying unsuccessfully to use a new revolving snake attached to my drill as well as by hand, I can't get the head to extend beyond a couple of feet. I know it's impossible to diagnose something without seeing it but this is frustrating. I inserted the snake through the vent above the drain and thought it had a pretty good shot at entering the trap. then make a left into another pipe, but it gets stuck somewhere and twisting further it doubles up on itself. After awhile I thought I'd wreck the cable so I stopped. If I can't get a plumber I may try it again but now the water's been sitting in the tub for several hours.
 

Cacher_Chick

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A plumber always starts by working through the overflow. If there is a basement below, you might just the trap off and work from there.

A wet/dry shop-vac can do some pretty cool things too.
 
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A plumber always starts by working through the overflow. If there is a basement below, you might just the trap off and work from there.

A wet/dry shop-vac can do some pretty cool things too.
There's a KITCHEN below. This is an old house, 1900 also. They're here now. No amount of mechanical effort work the cable through two 90 degrees turns so the toilet is now removed and the plumber will head back toward the black from where the two waste lines connect up. It's not a pretty picture for me because it points to the eventual expense of replacing the very old galvanized pipes. I'm a photographer, not a banker.
 
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