I own a property in which one of the units has been having issues on and off for the last several months. The tub shower in the bathroom has been slow to drain and will eventually back up after running water for several minutes. I am not a plumber by any means but usually am able to remedy the situation. I first ran a snake that I have attached to a power drill to see if I could clear any gunk up, did a bunch of plunging to get the water down and then use a combination of baking soda and vinegar & boiling water to clear up the blockage. I did this process over and over for nearly an hour. By the time I am done I can run the tub or shower for 10 minutes or so until I feel confident enough to leave. I have down this several times now over the last few months and it is happening more frequently.

After receiving a call from my tenant about the situation again I decided to call my plumber. He came out, tried to snake but could not get to far with it like me. He told me he has to remove the entire tub which will consist of breaking up the tiling all around the tub (three walls), most likely the drywall, and wants to chip out some of the concrete to remove the p trap (and replace) and gain better access to the plumbing. This sounds like a lot of work and just wondering if this seems like the right approach?

I also told him that the sink in the same bathroom is slow to go down as well but he said that is unrelated to the tub. I also asked about accessing the clean out but he said that the issue is not with the main since the toilet is not backing up anywhere.

Appreciate any insight before I have him rip apart the bathroom next week.

I would ask him to explore snaking the lavatory if it is also slow. Do you know which way the drain is going? Is it a single story home? You said you have snaked it for a little distance and I am assuming the tub is next to or near the lavatory. You obviously have a blockage and it needs to be cleared. Ideally, your snake head will be near the size of the pipe so it cleans thoroughly. If you have a single story home you can often determine the layout of the underground by viewing the vent penetrations on the roof... but not always. Are there no cleanouts available? Good luck.

After reading this again, it occurred to me that you said the snake would only go in about 2 ft. But you also said that it takes a while for the tub to back up, so I am thinking that the stoppage is much more than 2 ft away. When the plumber stated that the tud drain had nothing to do with the lavatory drain, he was not being truthful with you. They both tie into the main drain that goes to the street. Consider another drain cleaning pro if you want this to go away.



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His "solution" seems rather extreme, and I would not try to tell whether it is a "good" one or not until I personally tried to clear the drain.

He needs to try snaking the lav also since you state that it is slow draining. There is a good chance that it shares a common drain with the tub and snaking it may produce better results with both fixtures. Also, if there is a vent that can be snaked, that may also need to be done. Before you go to the measures that he is suggesting, you want to exhaust all possibilities. If the grid strainer is missing from the tub outlet, there may be a bottle cap that is lodged downstream. If so, they are very difficult to deal with and snaking will open the drain temporarily if the cap isn't removed or pushed on into a larger drain and washed out.

I would contact a different drain cleaning company that specializes in drains. They may be more practiced with drain cleaning. If the trap itself is broken in the ground, it still wouldn't require removal of the tub in most cases, it would require access from the adjoining wall/floor. If your house has lead pipes, it may have a drum trap set into the floor that needs to be accessed, or possibly through the stool hub if it has a side inlet. Bottom line is that there is probably a better solution out there, and a drain cleaning company the specializes in drains will probably be your best bet.

The property is a single story. I believe there should be a clean out for this unit. I have seen at least one cleanout on the property near another unit. The tub is 2 feet from the toilet. I had dificulty myself with the snake in the tub, I dont think I can get more than 2 feet past the entry point.

If I do locate the cleanout near the unit is that the best bet to start with the snake? Also try the sink as well?

If it takes 10 minutes for the water to start to back up, the clog is pretty far down the line. Definitely try snaking from the lav so you don't have to go through a trap (remove the trap under the sink and snake through the elbow). You really need a professional drain cleaning company.

The clog doesnt take 10 minutes. It happens immediately now. What i was trying to explain is that after I clear the backup I would run the water for 10 minutes or so to make sure that it is working correctly without backing up. This has been onging.

If this is a single story, plumbed in compliance with any model code, one should be able to snake this drain through the roof vent. It sounds as though you need a second opinion ( don't speak of the previous, allow him to address the situation as it exists.

Ok. Thanks. There is a roof vent and I believe a clean out. I will try and get someone else out to get another opinion.



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