Shower Drain Clog

[Charlotte Bart]

Hi, my shower room is flooded when taking a shower and the water takes hours to go down. I removed the drain cover, used a hanger and managed to take out all the debris about 1 1/2 cups of hair and some white hard lumps. However, the water still goes down very slowly. The hanger went down about 10 inches deep, not able to go any further, it felt like it reached the end. I can see the water permanently stays in the pipe about 6 inches high. I watched a lot of demonstration videos on you tube, they all are able to make the drain work after taking out the stuff from the pipe. Does that mean my clog is a unreachable location? I would appreciate very much if someone could advise me what else can I try to unclog the drain before the last straw to call a plumber. Thanks.

 

[Reach4]

I can see the water permanently stays in the pipe about 6 inches high.

That is normal. There is a p-trap under there.

I like my RIDGID PowerSpin Plus model# 57043. It doesn't seem very robust, but many have good luck powering it with an electric drill.

I might use the Brasscraft medium drain bladder. There are other brands that would probably work too. That connects to a garden hose, expands to make a seal, and sends water pressure into the drain pipe.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Plumbs]

If you don't want to hire a plumber or try to snake it yourself then there are a few easy things to try.
One would be to try to plunge it. Since you've removed a lot of debris this may work.
Another would be to try to use a shop vac to suck out any leftover debris. Make sure the hose is big enough to fit snugly in the drain. If it doesn't then use a wet rag to seal the gap.
If those don't work then snaking will be the next step. You can try liquid plumber but I'm guessing that's already been done.

 

[Charlotte Bart]

Update: Despite I have taken out all the debris on Sunday, the drain was still blocked, after that I poured in 1/2 cup of bleach to the pipe to get rid of the bad smell. On the same night after shower, the shower room became a pond, I had to scoop the water out to the toilet bowl the next day (yesterday) as the water stayed still over night! Last night during the shower, the water built up again like a pond, not for long I heard a loud gurgling sound, then I saw a whirlpool formed over the drain cover and suddenly all the water went down the drain in no time. The shower drain cleared up just like that! This morning, I ran the shower water, and it went down normally. I would like to thank Reach4 and Plumbs for your input. I guess I am really lucky that the drain is unblocked all by itself without trying anything further.

Charlotte Bart