Easy, Cheap Way to Unclog Shower Drain With a Power Washer
A few years ago, I spent about $300 for Roto-Rooter to auger, or snake, my bathtub drain–fancy terms for a process known as unclogging. Even today, I am shocked at how dumb I was to pay for this. But such is the allure of emergency plumbers: if you’re willing to pay the price, your problem will be fixed in less than one hour.
Most shower and tub clogs are not secretly hidden in that vast, mysterious dark web of plumbing pipes that lace throughout your house. Instead, a majority of hair and soap gunk clogs are right below, in the P-trap. If you have a power washer, you can unclog those types of clogs in less than 30 minutes.
Can You Clear Your Drain With a Power Washer?
For ordinary P-trap clogs that develop every few months, it is very effective. Nothing can be as effective as snaking a drain with an auger or using a power washer equipped with a sewer jetter, such as Clog Hog. It can be as simple as placing the end of the power washer nozzle into the drain and shooting a few short bursts. While that may work, one limitation is that you lose pressure where the nozzle meets the drain. You can increase the pressure by making a simple sleeve that connects between the nozzle and the drain. Here’s how.
Is This Safe For Your Pipes?
Your house has two types of water pipes: supply and drainage. Water supply pipes carry fresh water to the shower, faucets, and water heater and are designed to handle pressurized water. But when water drains away, it is not under pressure. So drainage pipes are not designed for high pressure.
Whenever you hit drainage pipes with high pressures, there is the possibility of failure. Have I ever experienced this? No.
Tools and Materials
- 1 foam or polyethylene pipe insulation, 6 ft. (they do not come in shorter sizes).
- 1 zip tie
- Power washer, purchased or borrowed.
Remove Drain Strainer, Cut Pipe Insulation, and Attach to Power Washer
Lift out or screw out the initial drain blocker called the drain strainer. Leave that X-trap in place. While it is preferable that the X-trap be removed, you can do a good enough job with it in place.
Cut off a piece of insulation about 8″ to 12″. Slide it onto your power washer gun nozzle. Use a zip-tie to secure it to the gun.
Place Into Drain
Force the other end into the drain.
Spray Drain
Hit the drain with multiple short bursts from the power washer. Sustained spraying should not be necessary. Fill tub and check to see if the drain rate has improved. If not, repeat the process.
Happiness Rating
This unclog hack makes me really happy, because I can blow out obstructions whenever I want and it costs me almost nothing. The only part I don’t like is that it involves the power washer, which is always a pain to set up. You’ll spend most of your time hooking up the power washer to the hose and electric outlet and less time on the actual blow-out.
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