Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    llianabug's Avatar
    llianabug Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Sep 14, 2012, 12:43 PM
    Bathtub taking 10 hours to drain
    Please help! It's always been a slow slow drain, but this is crazy. We tried plunging (smelly black gunk came out), we tried drano, we tried the stinky enzyme bacteria stuff...

    Today in desperation I bought this compressed air thing, and it seemed to work, for about a minute. I had standing water, covered the vent, and pressed the canned air in. I got sprayed, and then lots of bubbles came out, and then it drained quickly, and I thought it was fixed. I went to wash my arms and face from the yucky water, and then it stopped draining again. You can see and hear that the water only goes down a little at a time... glug glug... stop... glug glug...

    Of course I have no idea how we would pay a plumber or what they charge - please help! What it wrong? It doesn't seem like a clog!
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
     
    #2

    Sep 14, 2012, 01:28 PM
    OK! The problem is that you have several issues. The fact that it goes glug-glug tells me it's attempting tom vent through the trap which would indicate a blocked vent. Did it always make this noise? How old is your house?
    Now let's tackle the drain. You tried everything except to snake the drain and that's what I would have done first. If you don't have a snake pick one up.
    Let me show you how to snake a tub from the ove4rflow.
    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 shouldn'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. After you snake pour a few pans of boiling water down the drain. This will loosen the grease and flush the mess out into the main. Answer my questions and we'll go on to the vent,Hope this helps and thank you for rating my reply. TOM
    Attached Images
     

Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions

 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

Is it possible to add a bathtub overflow drain to a bathtub that doesn't [ 1 Answers ]

THe bathtub was installed without putting in an overflow drain. Is is possible to add this to the bathtub drain? What is the best way to do this?

Threw up two and a half hours after taking my because pill [ 0 Answers ]

I was having a hard stressful day but I took my pill on time with an empty stomach two and a half hours later I took a sip of water and threw that up.. How long does it take for the pill to be absorbed into my stomach? Am I OK or did I miss a dose?

Bathtub drain stopper The bathtub drain stopper that is located in the tub 3/4 of the [ 1 Answers ]

The bathtub drain stopper that is located in the tub 3/4 of the way up to the top of the tub does not stay down. The lever pops back up by itself when pushed down to open drain and therefore, the tub fills with water when the shower is on. How can I fix it?

How do I replace my chrome bathtub drain with my new bronze drain? [ 7 Answers ]

I just updated my bathtub/shower fixtures from chrome to oil rubbed bronze. The problem is the drain cover. I have what looks to be a simple kind where the drain plug screws into the drain hole. It's the chrome piece inside the tub that I want changed, the pipe itself drains fine. The...

Bathtub with Septic Tank takes HOURS to drain [ 11 Answers ]

A year ago, I purchased a house that has a septic tank. We've had to have Roto-Rooter come out once to flush the lines because the toilet kept backing up (no problems with the tub). The Roto-Guy told us that we would need to have the tank pumped soon and also add the septic treatment regularly. ...


View more questions Search