Drain Repair in Doraville, GA

Shower and tub drains collect hair, soap residue and grit every day, and when they slow down most people reach for a plunger or a bottle of cleaner. Sometimes that is enough. When it is not, the problem may be in the stopper mechanism, the trap below the tub, or the drain assembly itself, and drain repair is the next step. From tangled trip levers to failed drain bodies in tiled showers, Alpha Plumbing and Sewer works on shower and bathtub drains in Doraville houses.

Start with the stopper

Bathtubs use several kinds of stoppers: lift-and-turn, toe-touch, push-pull and the older trip-lever style with a linkage hidden inside the overflow. Hair wraps around the moving parts of all of them, and a trip-lever plunger that has slipped out of adjustment can partly block the drain even when it looks open. Pulling the stopper or linkage and cleaning it is often the first fix, and it solves more slow tubs than people expect.

When the clog is deeper

If the stopper is clean and the drain is still slow, the blockage is usually in the trap beneath the tub or shower, where hair and soap scum form a dense mat. A hand auger can often clear it through the drain opening. When the trap clears but the drain slows again quickly, or several bathroom fixtures slow at once, the restriction is farther along the branch, and a look with a sewer camera shows what is there and whether the pipe itself is damaged.

Drain assemblies that fail

• Tub drain shoe and overflow. The gaskets that seal these parts to the tub can dry out, letting water escape into the floor or ceiling below when the tub is full.
• Shower drain body in a tiled floor. Many tiled showers use a clamping-ring drain tied into a waterproof liner beneath the tile. Small weep holes in the drain let water that seeps through the grout reach the pipe; when they clog, water sits in the mortar bed, and the shower can smell sour or stay damp.
• Prefabricated shower pans. These use a compression or glued drain fitting that can loosen or crack, especially if the pan flexes underfoot.

Repairing without tearing out the shower

Many drain repairs can be done from below, through an access panel, a ceiling opening or a crawlspace. A tub drain shoe and overflow can usually be replaced this way. Shower drain bodies are harder: on a prefab pan, the fitting may be replaceable from above with the right tools, while on a tiled shower, rebuilding the drain often means removing tile around it, and a leaking liner may mean a larger rebuild. If water has been escaping into the floor for a while, water restoration may be needed once the drain is fixed.

Doraville permits and affidavits

Doraville's Community Development office takes permit applications online, and each needs a notarized affidavit, either from an owner who lives in the home and does the work or from the owner naming the hired contractor. The city's residential permit checklist lists fixture work that changes the piping among the jobs that need a permit. Cleaning a stopper alters nothing; rebuilding a shower drain may, so ask before the work begins.

Keeping bath drains moving

• Use a hair catcher on every shower and tub drain and empty it often.
• Pull and clean tub stoppers every few months.
• Rinse the drain with hot tap water after using bath oils or heavy conditioners.
• Skip caustic cleaners in a tub that drains slowly; they can sit in the trap and attack older seals.

Shower and tub drain questions in Doraville

Why does my shower drain smell even though it drains fine?

In a tiled shower, clogged weep holes in the drain can leave water trapped in the mortar bed under the tile, and that stagnant water can produce a sour smell. A dry trap in a shower that is rarely used can also let sewer odor through. Running water regularly and having the drain body checked usually shows which it is.

Can a slow tub drain be fixed without opening the wall?

Usually, yes. Most slow tubs are caused by hair on the stopper or linkage, or a clog in the trap that can be cleared through the drain opening. Wall or ceiling access is needed mainly when the drain shoe or overflow gaskets leak, or when the trap or branch pipe is cracked.

How can I tell whether my shower pan or the drain is leaking?

Pour a few buckets of water directly into the drain without wetting the rest of the floor; if a leak appears below, the drain connection is the likely culprit. If the leak shows up only after water has stood on the floor or splashed the walls, the pan, liner or grout is more likely. A plumber can confirm it with a controlled water test.

Getting a slow tub looked at

Standing in water every morning gets old. Give Alpha Plumbing and Sewer a call at (404) 409-4448 about the shower or tub drain in your Doraville home.