Having a shower overflow and flood your bathroom is never fun. So we’ve put together some simple tips to fix blocked drains and prevent them from happening in the future. You can also apply these tips to sink and toilet blockages to keep your system squeaky clean.

Check the drain

The first step when you see your shower not draining properly is to inspect the drain. A lot of the time the cause of a shower block is easy to spot. Take a look to see if there’s something blocking the drain. Long hair clogging up the drain is the common culprit. The good news is this can be easily removed.

Plunger

Sometimes the simplest option is best. A plunger should be on your list of essentials for any home. They can unblock sink, showers and toilets with ease. They’re cheap, easy to use and can be used multiple times.

Chemicals

If the tips above haven’t solved the problem then you might need a little extra help from the supermarket. There are plenty of different brands and products to choose from to help unblock your drains.

Once you’ve poured your product down the drain, leave it to sit for about 30 minutes before turning the taps on to give the product time to work.

Natural remedies

If you’d rather not use harsh chemicals you could use some baking soda and white vinegar instead. Pour half a cup of baking soda down the drain followed by half a cup of distilled vinegar. This will create a fizzing action that can work through the blockage. Give it around 20 minutes and then pour boiling water down the drain to clear the blockage.

Prevention

The best way to solve a drain block is to stop it from happening in the first place. While it may be too late right now, you can also stop it from happening again in the future.

By using a drain strainer over your plugs, you can prevent a build-up of hair, the most common cause of shower blockage. Just remember to make sure it’s the right size for your plug and to empty it after each shower so you don’t end up standing in a rising pool of water.

There are other versions of hair catchers that you can use, so it’s always worth shopping around but in most cases the basic drain strainer works well enough.

If those don’t work

If these tips don’t work then it could be that there’s a big problem lurking under the ground in your plumbing system.

In this case, you’re best seeking the advice and skills of a drainage company. They’ll be able to find the source of the problem and advise you on how best to tackle it, whether that be pipe replacements or power flushing the system.

If you’d like our help or advice on a blocked drain or any other drainage problems, you can give us a call on our emergency number 0151 522 0736.