Tub clogged again, need prevention.

[Sam Nickaby]

A few weeks ago the tub drain was clogged. I'd manage to use a coat hanger to remove a bunch of hair from inside the pipe. Today it's clogged. I'm the only guy in the house, the rest are females but I have to do the work. I 'd like to find a way to prevent hair from going into the drain in the first place. Usually, I use a dome cap on the drain. This cap works great but it's missing. How can I prevent hair from going in there and where can I buy a dome drain cap?

Thanks

[trader4]

"This cap works great but it's missing. How can I prevent hair from going in there and where can I buy a dome drain cap? "

Since the drain cap appears to have been sufficient in the past, why not just replace it? Plumbing supply or perhaps one of the big box stores.

[Sam Nickaby]

I'd search for the cap at ACE and big box stores but only find this.

The kind that works has a dome shape made of stainless steel and hard to find.

[Marilyn & Bob]

Not at all hard to find at even the smallest plumbing supply store. Best to measure the diameter, as although they are pretty standard today, older tub drains came in different sizes. Also, I assume the screw to hold it in places is also missing. The plumbing supply store should have one.

[LDC]

How about dome caps for the females? :-)

[spudnuty]

I had this problem for a while. Even worse since the clog would seat

3/4 of the way across the bathroom on the way to the 4" meaning I'd have to get out the big snake. I tried those caps but the kids loved playing with them and they were always missing in action. I remember those hair traps on those old lever stoppers. If you have a "conventional" setup this will work. I got a spring from the hardware store that just fit into the drain. It's pretty big and about 4" long I attached a loop of solid copper wire onto it so I can hook and retrieve it. I clean it about every 2 months. A big long nasty smelly mouse of hair! The women all ohh and awe when I pull it out and unwind it off the spring. 'Course I add to the drama with rubber gloves and safety goggles. The only problem is that it corrodes and needs to be stainless steel but so far no luck in finding that.

Early on I did try that tack but my wife did a CSI on me, pointing out my thinning hair in the drain. Now I do my "killing the hair mouse" thing to recover my waning respect. Richard

[homeowner]

Just be a lazy bastard like my husband and claim to know nothing about anything and then whine and piss and moan about the job the plumber does and how much he charged your wife for the work. Be sure to pick a big fight with the plumber too, that will save your male ego.. :)

[mm]

Tell them they should wear a hair net when they shower.

Tell them when they shower without the dome cap, they have to do your chores for a week.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[mm]

Even though I have what I thought were standard Eljer toilets, I couldn't find a flapper that didn't leak a bit. When I finally found one I bought 4. When that store was going out of business, I searched via the web, and got 3 hits for it, one of them in Baltimore, where I happen to live. This time I bought 24, for 3 toilets. I figure this should last me till I die, and maybe on my death bed, I'll be able to trade flappers with my neighbors to get them to bring me food.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[Sam Nickaby]

Thanks all. Great tips.

I had one made especially for my tub. Here's how I did it. First I used this

and it didn't work. Then I use this

and it didn't work. Finally I got this

and cut it to fit and look like this

and it finally worked. Essentially, I had a friend cut an ordinary sink strainer to mimic a dome cap strainer. Works great. When the hairs accumulate on the surface of the strainer you just brush the hair off with your foot. The other strainers didn't work this way.