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Shower Drain Maintenance

Posted on July 11, 2010
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In order to avoid problems with clogs in your shower drain, there are some maintenance tips you can follow. These tips not only help keep shower drains working at their best, but also can help fix problems if they do occur.

To prevent clogs and keep a shower drain running freely, always make a point to clean any hair or soap scum from off the top of the shower drain cover every time you use the shower. Running hot water down the drain for a minute once a week, or dumping a bucket of hot water directly into the shower drain are also a good ways to keep a drain running smoothly. Pouring a half cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by two cups of white vinegar is another maintenance routine that can be used on a weekly or monthly basis. After the foaming from this mixture has stopped, run water down the drain for about five minutes.

It is important to have a good shower drain cover in place to help prevent clogs due to hair going down the shower. If your shower drain cover is missing or in poor repair, a shower drain installation will be required in order to fix the situation. Sometimes the openings in a shower drain cover are too large to prevent hair from going down the drain. If this is the case, you can either replace the drain cover, or invest in a portable drain cover to sit over the existing one, to help catch hair before it goes down the drain.

Almost all clogs in the shower are caused by hair mixed with soap scum that goes down the drain. Although the shower drain cover can help prevent hair from going down the drain, over time clogs can develop which can make the shower drain slowly.

Many times a clogged shower drain can be fixed simply by removing the drain cover, and removing any accumulated hair that comes out with the drain cover mechanism. However, other times you might see hair in the drain itself, which can be removed with a straightened wire hanger. Once this is done, test running some water into the shower to see if the water now flows freely.

If the shower drain is still clogged, a plunger can sometimes help. Put some petroleum jelly around the rim of a plunger, to create a better seal, and place the plunger over the shower drain. Then pump the plunger up and down about twenty times, and look into the drain. If the plunger pulled up the hair clog, you can then remove it with the straightened wire hanger.

If this does not work, a plumber’s snake can be used. Push the snake down into the drain until you feel it hit the clog. Then turn the handle to pull the snake back up. Remove any portions of the clog that are brought up by the snake. Repeat until the clog is removed.

If you are still not successful clearing the clog, you probably will need to call a professional. The clog might be further down into the pipes than what can be reached with household equipment. Once the clog is removed, do regular maintenance to keep the shower drain from becoming clogged again.

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