A shower that drains slowly is usually a local problem: hair bound together with soap scum in the trap or the first stretch of waste pipe.
A shower that gurgles, or that fills up when the washing machine empties or the toilet is flushed, is a different matter. That is the shower acting as the lowest point in the system and showing you a blockage further down.
Telling the two apart
- Only the shower is slow, and it has got gradually worse: hair and soap in the waste
- Shower gurgles when the toilet flushes: partial blockage in the shared line
- Water appears in the shower base when the washing machine drains: main line blockage
- Smell coming up from the waste even when dry: dried-out trap or build-up in the waste
- Water backing up in the shower and the floor waste together: stop using water and call
What blocks shower drains
- Hair
- The main one. It catches at the grate and in the trap, then binds with soap into a dense mat.
- Soap scum and conditioner
- Builds a sticky film on the pipe wall that everything else sticks to, and is worse with bar soap than with liquid.
- Sand
- A genuinely Gold Coast problem. Rinsing off after the beach puts sand in the trap, where it settles and stays.
- Hard water scale
- Slowly narrows the waste in some areas and gives hair and soap more to grip.
- A blockage in the main line
- The shower is often the lowest fixture, so it is the first to show a problem that is not really its own.
John & Mark were amazing. Arrived on time & fixed the problem quickly without the usual plumber’s hefty invoice. Very professional, highly recommended. Would not use any other plumber now. Thank you so much.
Paul RidleyI called Fair Dinkum Drainage after a co-worker used them. She could not say enough good things about them. So I decided to give them a try. I’d like to thank Nath, who came on time, did the job right, with no hassle. Thank You Nathan!
Dania