Service
Shower Drain Cleaning
Clearing shower wastes and trays that pool water, including hair blockages at the strainer and restrictions further along the branch.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
Remove it, do not push it
There are two ways to clear a hair blockage and only one of them lasts.
Pushing it down the waste clears the immediate restriction, water runs away, and the job appears done. The material is now sitting in the branch, where it will catch whatever arrives next. That is why some shower drains are slow again within weeks.
Pulling the mat out, at the strainer or through the trap, takes a little longer and removes the problem rather than relocating it.
When the shower is not the problem
If a shower only backs up while the washing machine or another fixture is draining, the shower is innocent.
A shower tray is usually the lowest opening on that branch. When a larger volume arrives faster than the shared line can carry it away, water finds the lowest point available and comes up there.
Clearing the shower waste achieves nothing in that case, because the restriction is downstream of both fixtures. The pattern, one fixture backing up because a different one is draining, is the clue.
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this service solves
- Water pooling around your feet during a shower
- A tray that takes minutes to empty after use
- Odour rising from the shower waste
- A shower that drains fine alone but backs up when other fixtures run
- A blockage that returns every few months
Signs you need shower drain cleaning
If more than one of these is true, the problem is usually past the point a plunger or a store-bought cleaner will fix.
- Water rises rather than clearing as you shower
- The tray still holds water minutes after the shower stops
- Hair is visible at the strainer
- Another fixture affects how well the shower drains
What to expect
How the visit works
Lift the strainer
The waste cover comes off and the hair mat immediately below it is removed, which is where the majority of shower blockages sit.
Clear the trap
Where the blockage is deeper, the trap is cleared directly rather than pushing the material further into the branch.
Cable the branch if needed
A shower that still drains slowly with a clear trap has a restriction further along, and that needs a small cable rather than more effort at the waste.
Test under real conditions
The shower is run at full flow for long enough to see whether it keeps up, because a partly restricted waste copes fine for thirty seconds.
What's included
What you get on every job, whoever we send.
- The hair mat removed rather than pushed downstream
- The trap cleared directly where the blockage is deeper
- Testing at full flow, not a brief run
- A strainer recommendation that prevents the repeat
Questions
Shower Drain Cleaning questions
Why does my shower drain slowly again so soon after clearing?
Usually because the mat was pushed along rather than removed. Forcing a hair blockage down the waste clears the immediate restriction and leaves the material in the branch, where it catches the next lot. Pulling it out at the strainer or the trap takes slightly longer and lasts considerably longer, which is the difference worth asking about.
My shower only backs up when the washing machine runs. What is that?
The shared line downstream, not the shower. When another fixture discharges a large volume, it fills the common branch faster than it can clear, and water finds the lowest opening, which is usually a shower tray at floor level. Clearing the shower waste will not change it. That is a main line question.
Is there anything that actually stops shower drains blocking?
A strainer over the waste, and it is not a small improvement. Hair bound with soap is the cause of nearly every shower blockage, and a strainer catches it before it enters the pipe at all. It costs very little, it takes seconds to clean out, and it prevents the problem rather than treating it.
Related services
Bathroom Drain Cleaning
Clearing basin, bath and shower wastes blocked by hair and soap residue, including the shared branch where several bathroom fixtures drain together.
See what this coversClogged Drain Repair
Clearing blocked drains at any fixture, and establishing whether the blockage is local to that trap or somewhere in the shared line downstream.
See what this coversWater Heater Repair
Diagnosis and repair of gas, electric and tankless water heaters, including no-hot-water calls, leaks, pilot problems and sediment flushing.
See what this coversLeak Detection
Locating hidden water leaks under slabs, inside walls, in yards and at the meter using acoustic, thermal and pressure-testing equipment, then repairing them.
See what this covers
Get it fixed
Shower Drain Cleaning, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does shower drain cleaning every week.
- Licensed and insured
- Answered 24/7
- Price before work