About a week ago, I noticed that shower drain wasn't draining as fast as it usually did - cleaned it - though there wasn't anything that appeared to block it.
Ran shower again, and noticed same thing... also noticed that at the very end, there appears to be a back flow of water surging up from the drain and then back into it again. I've tried drain unclogging liquid (suspecting it may have been something) but the problem seems to be still there.
Any ideas on what may be causing it or how to fix it?
Often, hair will clog shower or tub drains. This is particularly true if people with long hair use the shower or tub. If flushing with hot water doesn't help your best bet is to use a snake. Lye dissolves hair, although this method should be used as a last resort. Use a plastic fine strainer over your drain and clean it after each shower to prevent future issues.
Remove the drain cover, insert a garden hose, seal the gap with a towel. Put on your rubber boots and stand on the towel, while someone turns the water on. The pressure will unclog the drain. So far, the process has not failed me.
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. - Anne Frank.
I recommend you paste your original post into alt.home.repair. There are some sharp folks there.
Seeing just how the water is acting would help a lot, but essentially, the water is being sucked out of the shower drain (which would take some really weird force) or it is being pushed out. I can't imagine ample air pressure to push a column of water out of a floor drain; so, I suspect the water is being pushed by a volume of water [probably] from a different source.
How much water surges out of the drain, and does this happen as you are showering, or maybe after you turn off the water? How long has this been happening. Were there an plumbing jobs done in your quarters just prior to this problem appearing?
A slow drain would allow a significant volume of water to collect in the drain, but I can't imagine what sort of force is pushing it back from where it came.
I was once told about some sort of bladder that is installed in the wall to facilitate drainage, but I don't recall the details. If there is something like that, holding a volume of water until it can't hold any more, that--combined with a slow drain--might explain the backwash. The water would come out of a two inch drain far easier than down a constricted line.
At this point, I've exhausted my ideas, but I'm very curious about this. Please, let us know the cause and the solution.
It sort of bubbles up right at the instance when the last bit of water goes in the drain after I turn off the water - it is a big splash and then recedes right back in (somewhat slowly). When the shower is on, I notice that water accumulates. I added some soap to trace the flow and sure enough, the water wasn't draining very fast but I did not see any back flow.
I suspect around 3 weeks now when I started noticing water not draining fast enough.
Nope.
I live in Arizona and I have noticed that evaporation really drys up the plumbing - I occasionally run water through infrequently used tubs/toilets/sinks just for this. The only think I can think of right now is that the tub closed to the shower, has it's stopper down. I will lift the stopper and run some water. See if that could be a source of back flow.
Thanks for the ideas. Will post here if I get to figure it out.
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