How to Unclog a Bathroom Sink

Is your bathroom sink putting a “drain” on you and your routine? Don’t want to spend a lot of money on a plumber? Depending on the seriousness of your drain, you’ll be able to fix most sink clogs in fifteen minutes or less.

Unclog Bathroom Sink

For bathroom sinks with stoppers, we’ve found that the stopper is often the cause of the clog. The pop-up stopper creates a perfect obstruction area for hair and other material to get trapped.

Before your bathroom clog turns into a cesspool, learn how to fix a slow-draining bathroom sink by taking out and cleaning the pop-up stopper. It involves getting a little dirty, so get your rubber gloves out, and these other items:

Materials – rubber gloves, bent wire hanger, bucket/container (to catch excess water), and pliers (if necessary)

Clear Bathroom Drain

Source: diy.stackexchange

STEP 1

Clean out everything underneath your sink so that you can access the piping area. Place a container underneath the piping. After everything is clear for you to work, you’re going to need to disconnect the pop-up stopper mechanism. Let’s take a look!

STEP 2

Before getting underneath the sink, raise the stopper lever fully so that the stopper is all the way closed and sealed. Underneath the sink, behind the main pipe running from your sink, you can see where the pop-up stopper mechanism is connected. It is a horizontal pivot rod that is connected to the clevis strap (has many holes in it for height adjustments).

Disconnect the metal arm (or clevis strap) by bending the small piece of metal (spring clip) holding it in place. The spring clip keeps the clevis strap in place and allows you to adjust the height of your stopper mechanism.

STEP 3

After freeing the pivot rod from the clevis strap, you can loosen the pivot rod from the pipe with your hand. If you can’t do it by hand, then a pair of pliers should do the trick. Stick a pan/bucket/tupperware underneath the pipes so that when you unscrew the pivot rod with the ball seal at the end (hidden in the pipe area) water will fall into your container and not all over the cabinet/floor.

After disconnecting the pivot rod, the plastic pop-up stopper should be free to pull out, allowing you to pull it up and out of the sink. But before you pull the stopper out, put on your rubber gloves, because it is about to get gross. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

STEP 4

Pull the stopper out and clean it off in a different sink. Do NOT turn on the sink you are unclogging! Clean all parts with rubbing alcohol or a bleach solution. Put the clean stopper aside as you grab your metal hanger and bend it into a hook shape. Get deep inside the pipe with the hanger and pull out as much gunk as you can. You can use an old toothbrush to clean the sides of the pipe.

You might also be able to pull some hair gunk through the hole where you took the pivot rod from. If you think that there is a clog in the P-bend of the pipe, you can go ahead and unscrew the P-bend and clear out any obstructions that might be there; however, simply cleaning out the stopper will fix most bathroom sink clogs.

You can also remove the P-bend if you prefer to remove the clog down through the pipe instead of up and out through the sink bowl.

STEP 5

Put everything back together again. After reassembling all of the pieces, while you are down there, inspect everything for leaks and corrosion.


If you notice a problem much bigger than a mere sink stopper clog, call Larry & Sons at (301) 733-5428!

If you are looking for a versatile, natural, and economical drain cleaner solution, we recommend using Bio-Clean. A combination of bacteria and enzymes work together to break down and digest materials in your drains and pipes. Call us for more information!

Don’t forget to check out our maintenance plan; we provide fall and spring HVAC tune-ups, provide 15 % off all repairs, and much more!

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Ask a Chambersburg, PA Plumber: How to Prevent Clogged Drains

Leaks, clogs, blockages, smells, burst pipes, and water damage are all potential issues for your plumbing system. Unfortunately, we often take our plumbing for granted, and that means we only notice it when problems arise that we are forced to deal with. But many plumbing problems can be avoided with by changing our habits ever so slightly. In this post, we’d like to focus on several things you can do to prevent clogged drains. When you need a Chambersburg, PA plumber to come take a look at your plumbing issue, call Larry & Sons!

  • Avoid putting grease and other substances down your drains: Grease, as well as animal fats and oils, is a notorious drain clogging substance. While it may look shiny and liquid when it’s hot in the pan, as soon as it reaches your cool pipes, it will quickly turn into a sticky, gel-like wad that sticks to the interior surface of your piping. This attracts other bits of food and debris and fairly soon you may have a blockage deep within your drainpipes. By avoiding putting such materials down your drain entirely, you can avoid many problems with your drains, including clogs.
  • Schedule drain inspection and cleaning: If you’ve never had your drains cleaned, then you might like to prevent clogged drains by scheduling a video camera inspection and cleaning service. It’s a great pre-emptive maneuver that will also increase the longevity of your plumbing and allow a pro to address any other problems that may have arisen during the course of its service life.  
  • Use hair and food stopper: Again, by controlling what goes down your drain, you can avoid many problems that arise as a result of accumulated debris. Two simple devices known as stoppers can help you prevent clogged drains in the kitchen and bathroom. Hair and scraps of food can begin to congeal into partial blockages fairly easy over time.

Make sure you take care of your plumbing system, and it will take care of you. When you need a Chambersburg, PA plumber, call Larry & Sons today!

Frederick, MD Plumber’s Guide: Signs You Need Drain Cleaning

Many homeowners take their drains for granted until they’re completely clogged. At Larry & Sons, we know how important your drains are to your ability to carry out daily tasks like bathing and cleaning. We provide complete drain cleaning services in Frederick, MD. We wanted to help our customers in the area recognize the signs that could indicate they need drain cleaning services.

Common Causes of Drain Clauses

At Larry & Sons, we provide fast and reliable drain cleaning services in Frederick, MD. We’ve seen all kinds of drain clogs. Here are a few of the most common causes that we see.

  • Grease and fat – When you pour melted grease or fat down your kitchen sink it will harden when it touches the cool water below. This can form a gooey mess that sticks to everything else that comes down the drain.
  • Minerals – If you have hard water, the minerals in the water can collect in your drains and form a clog.

Slow Drains

Slow drain clearing in Frederick

If you’ve started to notice that your drains are slowing down it probably means that you need to have your drains cleaned. Slow drains mean that you have clogs in your drains and they need to be cleaned out.

Multiple Drain Clogs

When multiple drains in your home start to clog it usually means that you have a clog further down your sewer lines. All of the drains in your home connect to one main sewer line. If there’s a clog in your sewer main it will cause several or all of your drains to stop up.

Benefits of Regular Drain Cleaning

In most cases, clogs don’t happen overnight unless you flush something down your toilet or your kitchen sink drain. Clogs normally start to happen slowly. With regular drain cleaning our plumbers will be able to find any kind of clogs that could be building up in your drains. They can clear the clogs out and keep your drains working before they start to slow.

Larry & Sons offers drain cleaning services in Frederick, MD. Call us today if your drains have started to slow down or if they’re completely clogged.