I have a "plumbpak" brand foot lock tub drain purchased from Lowe's. The tub is starting to drain slowly. I don't want to use liquid plumber and my enzymatic drain cleaner is not doing the job. Can I take out the stopper on this without removing the whole assembly from the tub? I want to see if I can fish out whatever is plugging the drain.

This is a picture of the drain plug

I am not positive about this one but some of them are removed by turning them counter clockwise. I am sure some one else will give you the right answer.

As far as I can tell, spinning the plug itself does nothing.

Letme has hit it on the head. This type of drain does allow you to unscrew the entire chrome cap. You will be able to see down into the drain and I'm betting on a wad of hair. Pick out what hair you can reach with needle nose plyers or a tweezer. Now mix 1/2 cup of table salt with a 1/2 cup of baking soda and dump into the drain. Add a cup of vinegar and watch the fun. Flush the following day with a big bucket of very hot water. I think you will be satisified with the results.

For anyone in the future with this problem: To take the plug out, you have to reach under the rubber gasket with your fingers and hold the white plastic part that you can see in the above picture steady while you turn the metal cap. Once you have the metal cap there is a screw that removes the whole plug. (if you don't hold the white plastic piece, you just spin the whole assembly until you are blue in the face.) (no volcano was needed in my case.)

Thanks for advice , ds I was blue in the face!! Mine had a set screw under the chrome cap , held the white part with channel locks and 1-2-3 done thanks again

These tub drains tend to collect hair and plug up and it can only be cleared by taking it apart. Not too difficult as it turns out.

1st.. . You need to unscrew the metal cap of the drain stopper. If it keeps turning you need to reach under the rubber gasket and, with your fingers or with a pair of pliers, hold the nylon cylinder to keep it from turning and then unscrew the metal cap and remove it and the rubber washer.

2nd. . You need to remove the nylon cylinder. This you do with a large regular flat screw driver (some use an allen wrench). It may be snug (it should be when you put it back) but if you push down firmly on the screw driver and twist it should come out.

3rd.. . Now you have a clear view of the problem and can use pliers to remove the unwanted obstruction.

4th.. . Clean the parts and reassemble and take a nice (plunger free) shower :-))

dsjunk and Helper,
Thanks for the instructions on removing the touch toe stopper. These kind of posts we can always put to good use. Thanks again, Tom

Thanks so much for the tip on removing the touch toe stopper. Drain flows great now. Removed about 2 lbs of hair.

Letme has hit it on the head. This type of drain does allow you to unscrew the entire chrome cap. You will be able to see down into the drain and I'm betting on a wad of hair. Pick out what hair you can reach with needle nose plyers or a tweezer. Now mix 1/2 cup of table salt with a 1/2 cup of baking soda and dump into the drain. Add a cup of vinegar and watch the fun. Flush the following day with a big bucket of very hot water. I think you will be satisified with the results.


I used this "volcano" and it worked great to clean the drain out. But I did need to replace the cap, rubber seal and inside bolt. Cost less than $4.00.

Can a foot lock drain system be installed in a standard tub without removing pipes?

Hi Betty and welcome to The Plumbing Page at ANHD.com.
You ask,
can a foot lock drain system be installed in a standard tub without removing pipes? Yes! How it works is that you first unscrew the old drain lip. Then run a small ring of plumbers putty around the lip of the foot lock drain and screw it back in. n remove the excess putty put your rubber ducky in the tub wit you and have a happy rub-a-dub, Cheers. Tom