Drain Cleaning
Drain cleaning across Connecticut for slow sinks, clogged toilets, basement floor drains and main sewer lines, with camera proof and an upfront quote.
Drain Cleaning details
24/7 drain cleaning
Shower and Tub Drain Cleaning in Connecticut
Standing water in the shower or a tub that takes forever to empty is a clog in the making. We clear tub and shower drains and the lines behind them, with an upfront quote before any work starts.
Open 24/7Emergency drain service
Camera ProofSee inside your line
Fully Insured7 years in business
Upfront PricingQuote before work starts
Quick answer: Remove the strainer and pull out any hair you can reach with gloves or a plastic barbed drain tool. Run hot tap water to flush the loosened debris. A plunger can help if the drain has a good seal. If water still pools, the clog is deeper in the trap or line and needs an auger. Avoid chemical cleaners, which can damage old pipes and rarely dissolve hair.
A shower drain clogged with hair and soap is one of the most common calls we get. Hair wraps around the stopper linkage and the crossbars under the strainer, soap scum and conditioner glue it together, and every shower adds another layer. Before long, water pools around your feet and leaves a ring on the tub. A bathtub drain clogged the same way can take ten or fifteen minutes to empty. The good news is that most of these clogs sit close to the drain opening and come out cleanly with the right tool.
Not every slow tub is a simple hair clog. In older Connecticut homes, the tub drain often connects to a cast iron or lead drum trap hidden under the floor, a design common in early 1900s bathrooms. Drum traps collect sludge and are hard to clear from the drain opening. Tubs on the upper floors of three family houses and Victorians may share a branch line with the bathroom sink and toilet. If the tub and sink are slow together, the clog is in that shared line, not the stopper.
We pull the stopper or strainer, remove the hair and buildup at the opening, and run a hand auger through the trap and line. If the clog is in a drum trap or a shared branch, we reach it through the overflow, a cleanout or the trap itself. Then we flow test the tub or shower at full volume and reinstall the hardware. If you want to unclog a shower drain fast without harsh chemicals, call (518) 776-7838. We are open 24/7 across Connecticut.
What we clear
Common Shower and Tub Drain Cleaning Situations
Hair Clogs
Long hair is the top cause of a shower drain clogged near the opening. It wraps around the stopper linkage and crossbars and forms a mat that catches soap and debris. A hair clog usually clears with a hand auger or a barbed tool, and a hair catcher keeps it from coming back as quickly.
Soap Scum and Product Buildup
Bar soap, conditioner, body oils and bath products leave a sticky film inside the trap and pipe. Over time it hardens and narrows the line. Hard water in many Connecticut towns on private wells makes this worse by adding mineral scale. Cleaning the trap and line removes the buildup.
Drum Trap Clogs
Many older Connecticut bathrooms have a round drum trap under the floor near the tub. Drum traps collect sludge and are difficult to clear from the drain opening. We reach them through the trap cover or the line and can tell you if replacing the old trap with a modern P trap makes sense.
Shared Bathroom Line Clogs
When the tub, sink and sometimes the toilet slow down together, the clog is in the branch line they share. That line may run under the floor or down to the stack. We clear it through a cleanout or trap so all the bathroom fixtures drain again, not just the tub.
Know the warning signs
Signs Your Shower or Tub Drain Is Clogged
- Water rises around your feet during a shower and drains slowly afterward.
- The tub takes many minutes to empty after a bath.
- You see hair or gray sludge around the strainer or stopper.
- A musty or sewer smell comes from the tub or shower drain.
- The tub gurgles when the bathroom sink or toilet drains.
- The sink and tub in the same bathroom are slow at the same time.
What is included
What Our Shower and Tub Drain Cleaning Service Covers
- Removal and cleaning of the stopper, strainer or overflow plate
- Upfront quote with the clog location explained
- Hair and soap scum removal at the drain opening
- Hand auger or machine clearing of the trap and branch line
- Drum trap and shared line clearing in older bathrooms
- Flow test, reassembly of hardware and clean up
How it works
Our Shower and Tub Drain Cleaning Process
Inspect the Drain
We look at the type of stopper or strainer, run water and check the bathroom sink and toilet on the same line. That shows whether the clog is at the opening, in the tub trap or in a shared branch line. It also tells us if an old drum trap is part of the picture.
Upfront Quote
You get an upfront quote before any work starts and a short explanation of where we think the clog is. If the tub has an old drum trap or a stopper that is corroded in place, we let you know what that means for the job before we start taking parts apart.
Remove and Clear
We remove the stopper or strainer, pull out the hair and soap buildup and run a hand auger through the trap and the line. For drum traps and shared branch lines, we work through the overflow, the trap cover or a cleanout to reach the clog without damaging the tub or tile.
Reassemble and Test
We clean and reinstall the stopper or strainer, then fill and drain the tub or run the shower at full flow to confirm the line is clear. We check the sink on the same line, wipe down the area and leave a hair catcher tip so the drain stays open longer.
Connecticut drains
Tub and Shower Drains in Connecticut's Older Bathrooms
Connecticut bathrooms range from claw foot tubs in Victorian homes to fiberglass shower stalls in 1970s split levels, and each has its own drain quirks. Older homes in places like New Haven, Hartford's West End and the town centers of Litchfield County often still have cast iron tubs with lead or cast iron drum traps under the floor. Those traps were standard decades ago, but they hold sludge and are hard to clean. Upper floor bathrooms in three family houses drain down a long stack shared with other units, so a clog can show up in one apartment while the cause sits in another.
Water quality matters too. Many homes outside the cities draw from private wells, and hard well water leaves mineral deposits that combine with soap to form a crust inside tub and shower drains. In basement showers, a slow drain can also signal a main line problem, since basement fixtures are the lowest point in the house. We check for that before calling it a simple shower clog.
Pricing
What Affects the Cost of Shower and Tub Drain Cleaning
The cost of shower and tub drain cleaning depends on where the clog sits and how we reach it. A hair clog at the stopper is a simpler job than a drum trap under the floor or a shared branch line. The type of stopper, corroded hardware, tile or access panels and the age of the pipe all play a part. A basement shower that points to a main line problem is a bigger job. You get an upfront quote before any work starts.
Call (518) 776-7838 for an upfront quote. We answer 24/7 and explain the price before any work starts.
Prevention
How to Keep It From Coming Back
- Use a hair catcher in every shower and tub and clean it after each use.
- Brush long hair before showering to cut down on loose hair going down the drain.
- Run hot water for a minute after showers to help carry soap residue through the trap.
- Remove and clean the tub stopper every month or two.
- Run water in seldom used showers every week or two so the trap does not dry out.
Real photos from our jobs
Recent Drain and Sewer Jobs
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Local service
Shower and Tub Drain Cleaning Near You
We provide shower and tub drain cleaning across all eight Connecticut counties.
FAQ
Shower and Tub Drain Cleaning Questions, Answered
Remove the strainer and pull out any hair you can reach with gloves or a plastic barbed drain tool. Run hot tap water to flush the loosened debris. A plunger can help if the drain has a good seal. If water still pools, the clog is deeper in the trap or line and needs an auger. Avoid chemical cleaners, which can damage old pipes and rarely dissolve hair.
Hair catchers stop most hair, but soap scum, conditioner, body oil and mineral scale still get through and coat the trap and pipe. Over time that buildup narrows the line. In older Connecticut homes, a drum trap under the floor or a shared branch line can also be the real cause. Cleaning the trap and line usually restores full flow.
A drum trap is a round metal canister installed under the floor near a tub, common in bathrooms built before the middle of the last century. It holds water to block sewer gas, but it also collects sludge and is hard to clear from the drain. If your home is older and the tub drains slowly no matter what you try, a drum trap is a likely culprit.
A smell usually comes from hair and soap sludge rotting in the trap, or from a trap that has dried out in a shower nobody uses. Run water in unused showers every week or two to refill the trap. If the smell stays after cleaning, there may be a venting problem or a crack in the line, which we can check during a visit.
When the tub and sink in one bathroom slow down together, the clog is usually in the branch line they share, not in either fixture. Clearing just the tub stopper will not fix it. We find where the two drains join and clear the shared section to the stack, then test both fixtures so the whole bathroom drains properly.
Yes. Basement showers and floor drains are usually the lowest drains in the house, so they are the first to show a main sewer line clog. If the basement shower backs up when you flush a toilet upstairs or run the washer, the main line is likely blocked. Call (518) 776-7838 and stop using water until it is cleared.
Yes. We clear tub and shower drains in apartments, condos and multifamily homes across Connecticut, working with owners, managers and tenants. In buildings with stacked bathrooms, one clog can affect several units. We find whether the problem is in one unit's trap or in the shared line and clear it so every bathroom drains.
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