A blocked bath or shower drain leaves standing water and makes the fixture unusable. Hair combines with soap scum to form a dense plug in the trap or waste pipe. Since shower trays have shallower traps, they tend to clog even more easily.
We use flexible drain snakes to reach the tight bends in a bath waste pipe, along with micro-jetting nozzles sized for narrow bathroom pipework. For a shower tray set into the floor, low-profile tools reach the trap without lifting any tiles. We check the pipe beyond the trap too, since damage further along can also cause slow drainage.
The visit typically takes 30 minutes to an hour. We take care to protect bathroom surfaces throughout.
We remove the drain cover or waste fitting to reach the trap. Since hair and debris often sit right there, we can usually clear them straight away.
We feed a flexible drain snake through the waste pipe to break up and pull out the blockage. Since stubborn clogs need extra work, a rotating head clears compacted hair and soap deposits.
We flush the cleared pipe with water and, where needed, run a micro-jetting nozzle over the pipe walls. This clears any residual buildup and restores full bore drainage.
We fill the bath or run the shower to full capacity and check the water drains at the expected rate. Since there's no gurgling or slow flow left, you know the job's done properly.
The cost of clearing a bath or shower drain depends on access to the trap and how far downstream the blockage sits, since a harder-to-reach trap takes more time. Request a fixed-price quote online — we always confirm the price before starting, and no call-out fee applies.
Fitting a simple hair catcher over the plughole is the single most effective prevention measure. Since these inexpensive mesh or silicone guards catch hair before it enters the waste pipe, blockages become far less likely. Clean the guard after each use and flush the drain with hot water weekly to keep the pipe clear.
Usually, yes. Slow drainage almost always indicates a partial blockage forming in the trap or waste pipe. Occasionally the issue can be a venting problem — if air cannot enter the pipe behind the draining water, it creates a vacuum that slows flow. Our engineers check for both causes.
If the bath shares a waste pipe with other fixtures — common in many Darlington properties — a blockage in the shared section can affect the bath, basin, and sometimes the toilet. If multiple fixtures are draining slowly, the obstruction is likely in the underground drainage rather than an individual waste pipe.