Level access shower not draining - any ideas?

Stu999

Stu999

Stu999

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My new place (rental) has a level access shower but the drain is very odd. Pretty much 75% of it is obscured by the way the drain fitting is designed (nothing looks broken).

The result is it hardly drains even when the shower ‘tap’ is barely open.

I’m a bit reluctant to put a load of bleach / harsh chemicals down it as the fittings are all plastic.

Any suggestions on how to remedy this? Only thing I could think of it to get one of those flexible, fibre optic type inspections cameras to see if there’s a blockage.

At the moment the shower tray starts to fill up when I shower. Luckily there is a lip around the edge so the floor doesn’t get soaked. However, none of the gunk from showering clears down the drain properly so it always looks dirty, even if I’ve just cleaned it.

Edit - couldn’t find a generic pic online of the same fitting. Apologies for the gross pic but this illustrates the problem:

IMG-0064.jpg


IMG-0065.jpg


I’ve just cut my hair so little bits of hair are from that. They’re still around despite a couple of attempts to clear it up.
 
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Seeing as your in a rental I would call the agent first before you do anything.

Say its not draining properly and you don't want to risk it overflowing and causing damage.
Can they want to send someone round to look at it.

This is one the few benefits of renting, as when you move in these sorts of thing really should be fixed at the vendors cost where as when you move into a purchased property you get the joy of that sort of fix yourself.

If you do want to try to fix it, its probably hair so try to feed something into the drain carefully with a small hook on the end and twirl it around a bit.

It could have course just be a poor installation.
 
If you're feeling adventurous, unscrew and disconnect the trap and pour water directly into the waste pipe below. If it's still slow draining, then the fall or gauge of the waste pipe could be insufficient, or it could be blocked.

If it flows well then the tray may not be level or the trap is clogged.
 
Participant said:
If you're feeling adventurous, unscrew and disconnect the trap and pour water directly into the waste pipe below. If it's still slow draining, then the fall or gauge of the waste pipe could be insufficient, or it could be blocked.

If it flows well then the tray may not be level or the trap is clogged.
Click to expand...
I'd probably balls that up TBH. :D
 
Looks like a Wirquin Twisto trap. Meant to self clean, but in reality are a nightmare. No real way to clean them due to the vortex design.

I got one with my shower tray and threw it away. Call your landlord.
 
Orifice said:
Looks like a Wirquin Twisto trap. Meant to self clean, but in reality are a nightmare. No real way to clean them due to the vortex design.

I got one with my shower tray and threw it away. Call your landlord.
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Thanks, good ID. I think this one is badged as a Mira Vortex (shower tray is Mira), but they look identical.

It looks like a really poor design.
 
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Well, I think the culprit has been identified!

IMG-0067.jpg


It's the cover off one of those ladies' razor blades. **** knows how it got down the trap. Also pictured, the plunger @pastymuncher suggested.

radderfire said:
What do you mean by a "level access" shower?
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This:

1-1697-045-as-l.webp


It's pretty much this exact model, i.e. almost flat to the floor, you don't 'step up' into the shower.
 
I’ve got that trap on a larger shower tray from Mira, the trap came with the tray.

As others have said, PITA, they don’t do a very good job of catching long hair (from Mrs Sk8 I might add) so regularly clog.

Keep the plunger somewhere handy, you’ll need it again.
 
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You won’t believe this - the exact same thing happened again.

When I cleared it first time it was draining great but then recently it’s started to get bad again and filling the shower tray.

So I got the plunger out again tonight and somehow there was another razor blade cover and the very top bit of a shampoo / conditioner bottle.

Can’t decide if they were always there and I just didn’t get them first time or there is something very wrong with the drains in the street.
 
Stu999 said:
You won’t believe this - the exact same thing happened again.

When I cleared it first time it was draining great but then recently it’s started to get bad again and filling the shower tray.

So I got the plunger out again tonight and somehow there was another razor blade cover and the very top bit of a shampoo / conditioner bottle.

Can’t decide if they were always there and I just didn’t get them first time or there is something very wrong with the drains in the street.
Click to expand...
or maybe there is a mystery lady who is using your shower when you are not around.
 
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