If you think it’s only your kitchen and toilet drainage that can overflow in your household, you should think again. Asides the kitchen and toilet, the bathtub also suffers from the same incidence. Daily your bathtub experiences a lot of abuse from soap particles to water to hair care products and other solid objects passing through it to your sewage system. Like any other drainage, your bathtub can clog up and overflow which would result in flooding your apartment and causing water damage to your property. To solve this issue, you need to stop your bathtub drain from overflowing.
Stopping your bathtub drain from overflowing isn’t a hard job to do. You just have to care not to let debris go down the drain to clog the pipes. To prevent your drains from clogging up and keeping your tub clean you can practice the following
- Keep your drain cover on at all times. This would prevent solid objects especially the ones that can easily clog up the pipe from passing through your tub drainage line.
- Keep your tub clean and free from hair particles and dirt. With your bathtub cover in place, it can keep out lots of hair strands but some may eventually get through and accumulate over time. So ensure to always take it off and clean it thoroughly.
- Try not to dispose of oily fluids into your drain. Oily fluids such as grease, fat, and oil are known to linger on in your drains and accumulate over time to become a clog. They’re even harder to remove when they clog your drain pipes.
- Enlighten your kids on the proper use of a bathtub. When your kids use the bathtub, they love the feel of it and sometimes get carried away by their play which may lead them to remove the drain covers and put in their toys. If this happens, that can clog up your drain and create a tough situation that requires the services of a plumber to fix.
How to Stop Bathtub Drain Overflow?
If mistakenly any substance clogs up your drain and your bathtub threatens to overflow, you may need to take immediate action so your home doesn’t get flooded and your furniture is not destroyed by water. To stop your bathtub drain from overflowing, take the following steps
- Before taking any steps, first, turn off the water supply that’s filling your bathtub. This would aid in detecting the problem easily.
- Bailout the water from your tub using a pitcher or small bucket. Dispose of the water outdoors or through your toilet or sink.
- After clearing your bathtub of water, inspect the drain. If you find anything obstructing the flow of water that’s visible to you, prod it with a small rod or stick and take them out. Ensure to wear rubber gloves while doing this.
- If you find nothing visible obstructing the flow of water, use a plunger to try and force the clog out or to clear it up. To successfully do this may take several attempts so keep at it but bear in mind that bathtubs have drain overflows that create pressure and vacuum leak which make plunging less effective as compared to toilets and sinks.
- If you tried the plunging method and that did not work, try to use chemical drain openers to partially dissolve the clog. Before applying such chemicals, carefully read the instructions on the label of the chemical container and make use of personal protective equipment. These chemicals are usually toxic and caustic, so you need to be careful. After applying the chemical give it some time to dissolve the clog then pour water to see if it drains it at a normal rate.
- If you tried the chemical drain opener method and it doesn’t work, you may need to use the plumbing snake to get the clog out of the water’s way.
- If you still didn’t get the result you need, you may need to contact a licensed plumber to get the job done.
Conclusion
With these few tips, you can handle a clogged up bathtub overflow drain easily. If you find any step hard to do, you can research the operation method to get it right.
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