I recently moved into a new apartment and on arrival we found that the shower would not drain very quickly at all. The plumber came and had to drain the trap by coming in through the apartment below. This solved the problem.

It is now 3 months later and the same problem is starting to occur again. I have scoured the internet for solutions but I have noticed that all these relate to drains with a u-bend. I have looked down our drain, removed any hair and debris that was down there but I actually have no idea how it drains? There appears to be no outflow whatsoever and I have run my hand 360 degrees around the pipe and found no direction for the water to flow.

Could someone please explain to me how/where the water is draining and what I can do to remove the blockage?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

The "U bend" you refer to is the trap. I don't know why the plumber had to go in from the bottom when the normal way to snake a shower drain is to go through the drain, (see image).
Purchase a small snake at least 16 feet long .
First remove the strainer,(TIP: put the screws in the soap dish. They will be hard to replace if they go down the drain.) Now work your snake past the trap and 10 or 12 feet beyond. When you pull the snake back it should have the hair that was clogging your shower on the auger tip. Now pour 1/4 gallon of bleach down in the trap and let it set over night. Next morning pour a pan of boiling down the shower to clear what's left and make your drain smell nice.

Thanks for the fast response, but I think I may have the terminology wrong and confused things.

When I look into the plughole there is nothing more than a 4/5 inch straight drop, which is about 1/2 inch wider than the plug opening. I have put my fingers into this drop and cannot find any way for the water (or debris) to drain away. There's also no noticeable screws or fixings that can be removed in order to explore further.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by wiggynorth

nothing more than a 4/5 inch straight drop, which is about 1/2 inch wider than the plug opening.

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Sorry that is a 4 to 5 inch drop that is about half an inch wider.

You have already told me that you have a trap,

Quote:

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The plumber came and had to drain the trap by coming in through the apartment below. This solved the problem.

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Try snaking the shower from the drain. Common sense dictates that the drain connects to a trap which connects to the drain line which is clogged. So if you snake from the drain it simply has to reach the clog in the drain line. Good luck, tom

Thanks again Tom, but I can't actually get anything down the drain. I've attached a little sketch of how it looks. However, it's too small to manoeuvre anything through the less than half inch gap at the top. I just want to check that a snake would actually work in this instance?

Also I think I may have got the term trap wrong. All I know is that the plumber attacked the last blockage from the apartment below.

Cheers.

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...g?t=1260810847

What are you showing me? Are you saying the drain line isn't 1 1/2 or 2 inches? Did you get a look at the pipes when the plumber snaked out the line? Let me know, Tom

No unfortunately I wasn't in when the plumber came. I also don't know what a drain line is, sorry.

The sketch is a cross section of the plug-hole. The only route out seems to be through the half inch gap at the top, but I can't find anyone who's seen this sort of set-up before?

Is this familiar to you?

Thanks.

Can you post a picture? I'm having a problen understanding your set up. A drain line is the pipe from the trap to the sewer, regards, Tom