This evening when my wife was washing her face in the bathroom sink she noticed that brown smelly water was coming up through the tub drain. This only occurred when she was running the hot water and would slowly drain after the hot water was turned off. Although our tub has always drained slowly we have never experienced and water coming up from the drain... HELP!

This evening when my wife was washing her face in the bathroom sink she noticed that brown smelly water was coming up through the tub drain. This only occurred when she was running the hot water and would slowly drain after the hot water was turned off. Although our tub has always drained slowly we have never experienced and water coming up from the drain....HELP!


You have a partial blockage downstream from the tub drain caused by rotting hair and grease from soap. To clear the clog you will have to snake out the drain line. There are two ways you can access the drain. One is to snake from the lavatory roof vent. Put out enough cable to hit the bend at the base of the vent and about 15' more. After you're through put a garden hose in the vent and flush out the drain line.
Another way would be to snake out the tub drain itself. Since a snake can't get past the tee in the tub waste you'll have to remove the trip lever and plate from the tub waste and overflow.
Unscrew and remove the overflow plate,(The one with the drain lever) and pull out the tub stopper. You now have a clear shot at the trap. The way you were going in through the drain it ran you square into a tee that you can't get around. Now feed the cable( 1/4" best or 3/3" with a small tip. You can rent a Ridgid K50 sink cable.) About 2' down you will run into the bend of the trap. Crank and push at the same time to work around it. Your blockage will be found in the lateral pipe going to the stack. You shouln't have to put out more then 10 or 12 feet. I have found tub and shower clogs to be mostly hair and the worm should auger into it and pull it back.
Good luck, Tom