Shower

[AncientHouse]

Hi there,

My shower and plumbing is just over one year old and now the shower has a major clog. It will fill the base with water even with a quick shower. Should it be this badly clogged in such a short period of time. 3 people showering. I'm going to try a snake because I tried scooping possible hair from the pipe but nothing was there so it must be lower down. I assume this is just hair as nothing can really fit down the the slots but I'm just surprised this fast. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[cowboyjg]

Sorry the shower stalled.... [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

Yes there is a chance of a clog somewhere down the line. The use of the snake will either clear the clog or make it clear that there is another problem. Coming out of your roof is a pipe that allows air into the system so that the waste flows to your septic or sewer. Sometimes clogs occur in this pipe, known as a vent stack. If you have no issues with any other drain in your house ie: toilets, sinks and such, then the problem should be localized. Either the drain line near the shower or the stack vent. If there is a problem elsewhere then you may need to find the clean out and snake back from that point. There is a chance that you may have to go on the roof to snake the vent. The age of your plumbing doesn't really have any bearing unless there has been a failure in the pipe(not likely) or the plumber did the installation incorrectly. I'm not a big fan of the chemical drain cleaners, but that's me.

Good luck. I hope this helped.

[AncientHouse]

Hi,

It is only the shower. I'm also not a fan of using chemicals that's why I'd like to try the snake. I'll definitely also have to check the roof vent pipe. We have many trees and critters. Will there only be the one vent pipe?

Thanks.

[GaryM]

Normaly there's a vent stack for each "set" of plumbing. For example if there's a kitchen at the east end of the hose, there would be one for that set. Then if there were two bathrooms set "back-to-back" at the West end, there'd be another vent stack there that served both.

It's common in todays home designs to set bathrooms in a cluster to reduce the number of vent stacks required. Of course if the homeowner doesn't care about the expense the bathrooms can be anywhere.

Also the wall behind a toilet will commonly be 2x6 rather than 2x4 to allow for the diameter of the stack.

[AncientHouse]

So my downstairs bathroom is just below my upstairs bathroom where I'm having my shower clog. If there is only one vent and if there is something in it then wouldn't it cause problems for all my fixtures? [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[cowboyjg]

Maybe...as I stated, If you're not having problems with any other fixtures, the problem could be localized. Keep in mind that your house is very old and the new plumbing was installed to accomodate the house and its construction. There is even a chance that some of the old was incorporated into the new. It would make sense that the down stairs bath is vented with the upstairs one but it doesn't mean that's what you have. If the toilet and sink in the bath with the clogged shower has no problem, it is another indicator that the problem is localized in the drain line from the shower.

[AncientHouse]

Thanks. I'll be using the snake this weekend. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

The big box stores (and other suppliers) sell rugged rubber baloons with hose threads on one end. The other end has an orifice for water to escape, but slower than a hose will fill it. In use the device expands and forms a good seal to the pipe but allows water to pass through too. the water passing through builds up pressure and will hydrostatically force a clog to breakup or flow downstream. I have used these many times. I have used them down a roof vent also.

In the roof vent approach I had to have one device down the roof vent and another inserted into the balky drain. If you just use one in the drain then water may fill the vent and overflow onto the roof rather than burst out the clog at the drain. Some of these devices have the output orifice constructed such that it causes the output stream to pulsate like a shower massage. Either style can work but given a choice I would go with the pulsating one. These things come in a variety of sizes to fit different size pipes. Each size of device fits a range of pipe sizes. They can be really handy, expecially itf you don't like to use harsh chemicals.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Pat, many years ago, I read a "tongue in cheek" story in one of my RV magazines by a guy who said he used one of those devices in his RV kitchen sink - with the cabinet door underneath open. He said it shattered the drain pipe and blew his kneecaps off. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[AncientHouse]

Luckily the snake worked in my shower drain.
[img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
Thanks.