My shower is in the basement and drains very very slow, and my bathroom sink in the upstairs used to drain slow but now doesn't drain at all. My downstairs sink drains just fine. We've had problems in the past but this seems to happen all the time. I can't afford to keep paying plumbers. Anything at home that I can try? Do you think I need to unclog the main drain? If so how do I go about doing that? Wheni plunged my upstais sink this morning a lot of black smelly water came up. What is that? Thanks for your help.

Hi French...

Start by removing the pop-up assembly at the upstairs sink if you can (see picture). Here, unscrew the retaining nut and pull back on the horizontal pivot rod to remove the pop-up from inside the sink. Now, re-install the retaining nut/horizontal rod and then plunge again only this time you will also plug the overflow hole in upper sink area with a wet rag at the same time. Then run water to a 2-3 inch depth and PLUNGE the drain while plugging the overflow vent/hole. This will allow you to get a real deep set plunge on the drain and should help to clear the blockage... if you are lucky. The black stuff is an accumulation of chemicals and soaps, etc, that build up over time.

I do not think you need to snake the main drain line at this point.

In terms of the shower drain, I would recommend that you try to plunge the drain here, too. If that doesn't work then I recommend that you RENT a medium electric snake machine and purchase some leather gloves and a pair of safety goggles and snake the drain line clear (20 feet or so should do it). Go in and out a few times to do best job.

Try these things and please let us know how you make out... ok?

MARK