[oopurpledove]

I have an auger, but can't seem to get past the trap located about 18" past the overflow. Do you have any suggestions?

[speedball1]

If you're going down the tub waste and overflow, (see image) push really hard while crankingto get around the bend in the trap. Trust me! It will make it. Good luck, Tom

[oopurpledove]

If you're going down the tub waste and overflow, (see image) push really hard while crankingto get around the bend in the trap. Trust me! It will make it. Good luck, Tom

Tom,
I tried pushing really,really hard, to no avail. Then I attached the drill and tried that, all that happened was the coil got all twisted and bent. It sounds like I'm just up against pipe down there.

[massplumber2008]

Hello Oopurpledove...

If you really tried to push while snaking and you are still getting hung up then it is possible that you have a DRUM TRAP instead of the PTRAP pictured in the right at Tom's post above... see image below. Here, you would probably see a 3-4" cap or access cover in the floor right next to the tub or behind the tub through an access panel...let us know if something like this is present before proceeding as these drum traps can be difficult to mess with...OK? To be clear, you cannot usually snake a drum trap...you can snake up to and into it but the only way to snake past the drum trap is to remove the drum trap cap.

Otherwise, it takes a little to do, but the most likely scenario is exactly what Tom presented above with the PTRAP. These are tough to get around but with enough spinning and pushing your snake will eventually get by. Use the hand-held snake to start with and perhaps have a friend turn the snake as you use two hands to push down on the snake and see if you can finally get around the PTRAP.

One hint that may be helpful after you get past the PTRAP is to leave about 1 " of water in the tub while snaking the drain. This way when you hit the obstruction/issue the water will start to flow a bit and you can stop the snake and begin to really work the snake back and forth in the area that is blocked.

Finally, there have been 2 or 3 of these older type PTRAPS that were so tight in radius that my snakes couldn't get around them... even AFTER I cut the traps out and tried to force the snake through... simply could not turn through the trap. Here, you may need to hire a plumber and replace pipes... but that is absolutely worst case! You just never know what you can run in to sometimes with plumbing... ;)



Let us know what you discover...

Mark

[oopurpledove]

OK Gentlemen,
I had tried to get my son to come and help me a couple of days ago but he's 21 and didn't want to... I think it was an answer to prayer that made him call today. When I told him that I was still struggling with it he said he would be right over... now THAT was surely an answer to prayer! He had to cut off the part of the auger I had ruined. And used brute force to get it through, but he was successful, just as you said it would be. He did read what you had posted and had never done anything like this before. So you were of real help to him. I cannot thank you enough for taking time out of your Labor Day weekend to try to help me out. This is truly a great example of neighbor helping neighbor even at such a great distance.
Blessings to you both,
Marianne