How to unclog a shower or bathtub drain, and when to call

First, check whether it is just this drain

Run the bathroom sink and flush the toilet. If the tub stays put, the clog is in the tub drain. If water rises in the tub when other fixtures drain, the blockage is in the main line, and nothing you do at the tub will fix it. Stop running water and call.

Try these three things

• Pull the strainer or stopper and remove the hair you can reach. On a tub, the stopper often lifts out or unscrews.
• Use a plastic hair-snake, a cheap barbed strip from any hardware store. Push it down the drain and pull it back slowly.
• Plunge it. Block the overflow plate on a tub with a wet rag so the pressure goes down the drain instead of out the overflow.

What not to pour down it

Chemical drain cleaners rarely clear a hair clog and they damage pipe, especially the galvanized and cast iron drains in older Norwalk, Whittier, and Downey homes. They also make the job harder and less safe for whoever opens the drain afterward. Hot water and dish soap are fine. Lye and acid are not.

Signs it is time to call

• The hair-snake and plunger did not help
• The drain clogs again within a few weeks
• The tub gurgles when the toilet flushes
• There is a sewer smell from the drain
• The drain is an older galvanized line that is rusting narrow inside

What a plumber does

A cable machine goes down the drain and pulls out or breaks up the clog, which usually takes a short visit. If the drain itself has rusted narrow, Mickey tells you that too, because clearing it will only buy time. Tub and shower clogs usually get a price on the phone. The estimate is free.