Bath not draining - anything more I can do or do I need to call a plumber?

Babbawah

Snakey wrote: »

What confused me is that when I took off all the u-bend and connected bits, there was nothing - a very slight grey residue in some places which I rinsed out and dried off, but no blockage and no hair. So I don't think pushing wire down the plughole is going to get me anywhere . I have done all the bits of pipe that I can access, so if it does need to be manually removed then I will have to get someone out.

That was also my question about the soda/muscle/etc, because anything that's only going to go and sit in the pipes that I already know are clear (like e.g. the first u-bend it gets to) is not going to do anything apart from, presumably, eventually corrode the pipe and give me a leak to go with my lack of drainage. So I'm now assuming from what I'm hearing that the Muscle will scoot along the pipe until it finds the blockage and then get to work? If not then I just wasted three quid!

Thanks for the help and advice, and I will let you know what happens when I have my shower tomorrow morning! If it's still blocked then I'll go for the caustic soda.

The blockage is going to happen where the hair collects. IME this is usually the first U bend. Somewhere that that the hair can be scraped out of with a crude hook.

You might have an MSE, or an 'internets' bathroom plumbing system. Where no amount of previous experience or 'applied logic' will ever solve the problem.

IIWY, I'd double check the old insurance policy to make sure you is covered then firebomb the whole place shortly before you go aways on holiday.

Because if your solution isn't a traditional though somewhat expensive plumber, or accepted methods of chemical warfare, then IFIKW it is ?

Snakey

Babbawah wrote: »

The blockage is going to happen where the hair collects. IME this is usually the first U bend. Somewhere that that the hair can be scraped out of with a crude hook.

That's what I was expecting, a massive glob of gunk in the first u bend. Couldn't believe when it turned out empty and more or less clean.

If it's unlikely that hair etc will have got any further along, perhaps Avoriaz has it right and it's not actually my own personal problem. I'm on the first floor in a nine-floor block, so I'd have thought that if the whole thing was backing up I'd have my bath filling with other people's dirty water several times a day, but then hey, what do I know about plumbing? Clearly not a lot as you can see from my posts.

cazs

Caustic soda - it's the don. Make sure it's pure stuff though. I grabbed some from Wilkos and later released that it said cleaner with caustic soda. No wondert it didn't clear the slow clearing water in the sink. The pure stuff from the hardware shop works like a charm. If it's lots of hair like I had in my shower it turned into a paddling pool and even caustic soda wouldn't do it. My dad got some kind of contraption you snake down the hole - sorry unsure of name- and there was so much gross kknotted hair. See if the soda works first if not try and get the hair out.

sidefx

cazs wrote: »

Caustic soda - it's the don. Make sure it's pure stuff though. I grabbed some from Wilkos and later released that it said cleaner with caustic soda. No wondert it didn't clear the slow clearing water in the sink. The pure stuff from the hardware shop works like a charm. If it's lots of hair like I had in my shower it turned into a paddling pool and even caustic soda wouldn't do it. My dad got some kind of contraption you snake down the hole - sorry unsure of name- and there was so much gross kknotted hair. See if the soda works first if not try and get the hair out.

No Wilkos near here so can anyone suggest somewhere else that sells caustic soda cheap. Thanks:money: