A little deferred maintenance was causing the sink in Steph's bathroom not to drain. The resulting standing water was becoming a nuisance! Time for a good cleaning!
Even though the sink looks good and clean, there is trouble, lots of trouble in the way of soap scum and very long hair clogging the drain!
The first step is to remove the horizontal rod that holds the stopper in place. There is a spring clip holding the horizontal rod to the vertical strap (The gray thing with the holes.) Pull this clip off and pull the rod away from the vertical strap.
Unscrew the grey nut on the backside of the drain and pull this out (you might need a wrench if hand strength isn't enough). Go ahead and clean this with a little soapy water and a brush. Put a bucket under the drain just in case there is any dripping water.
Now the stopper is free and can be removed from the sink. Wash the stopper as well. I put this in a glass of soapy water with a little vinegar and let it soak; finish with a light brushing (an old toothbrush works well) and rinse well.
This is a disposable plastic hair clog removal tool that works well to remove hair clogs. Ug, this hair clog was too gross to show here!
We followed up with a drain cleaner to get any remaining residue. Follow the directions.
Time to reassemble the parts. Drop in the stopper with the hole facing forward. That hole is where the horizontal rod connects to the stopper.
Tighten the nut. Don't over tighten as these are plastic parts.
Fit the rod into the vertical strap which is connected to the lift rod. Replace the spring clip on the back of the horizontal rod. (This is the part that makes the stopper go up and down.) Be sure to make note of the hole the rod was originally fitted into and put it into the same place.
This is the lift rod. It also can be replaced if you ever need change the color of your fixtures.
This was an easy fix that most homeowners can do. There is no need to live with a slow draining sink!
Please note: This is not a sponsored post. FYI: We are not professionals, and we don't claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first! FYI: Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP! Related Projects
31 Comments
Joy
11/16/2019 10:56:52 pm
Thank you for this! Exactly the info we were looking for, no more slow draining sink. In addition to normal sink grime and hair, my kids had apparently shoved Q tips down the drain! It leaked when we put the nut back until I finished reading the instructions and rotated the hole in the stopper to the front. (Whoops lol)
Steph
11/18/2019 07:13:26 am
So glad it was helpful! Oh kids :) Thank you. I read a wikihow post which seemed really complicated and then I went to start on my sink and wasn’t sure how to remove the stopper. I had both of my daughters with me and we removed the stopper, cleaned it, attempted to snake the drain, and replaced it with only a minor amount of ugh. Thank you
Steph
12/17/2019 08:24:14 am
That's awesome! Thanks for sharing :)
Emilie Lewis
1/4/2020 08:41:24 am
Thank you so much!!!! You made it so easy to clean out an annoying drain!!
Steph
1/6/2020 08:40:12 am
You're welcome!
Margaret Beyer
3/18/2020 08:51:20 pm
i have a slow tub drain and i cant seem to remove the tub drain plunger...any tips. the screw is stripped
RITA ARNOLD
3/19/2020 10:59:40 am
Helpful hints always handy, especial if they work!!
Nic
3/21/2020 07:57:19 pm
Thanks so much for the clear how-to! Made all the difference between eternal procrastination and now running drains. Did two of them today. BTW I found that just doing step 3 (removing the nut) and leaving the lever assembly otherwise intact also can do the trick. 4/1/2020 11:36:18 am
Thank you for sharing this, Steph & Vicki. Your explanation was very clear and concise, and I also appreciated the comment from Nic (above) because I'm the type of person who takes things apart and then can never figure out how to put them back together. Leaving the lever assembly intact and just removing the gray nut worked perfectly!
Anne
5/11/2020 02:18:18 pm
Thanks so much! I have been looking at scary plumbing websites that involved tools (who has tools??) but this is exactly what I needed. My boyfriend was extremely impressed by his handy-dandy girlfriend saving the day!
Steph
5/12/2020 07:45:45 pm
You're welcome! Happy to help!
Cindy
6/18/2020 11:09:41 pm
Thank you so much for posting this! I am a 54 year old single home owner who is trying to learn to do more minor household repairs on her own. After viewing your video, I successfully unclogged my drain! Now I can head off to sleep knowing that tomorrow I will not have to deal with anymore standing water!
Steph
6/19/2020 08:02:03 am
Awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing Cindy!
Steph
7/10/2020 07:40:28 am
You're welcome!
Andrew Kempler
7/19/2020 12:06:06 pm
Thanks for providing this helpful information. I found your video before others and it worked for my sink drain. Nice to be able to fix things that are easy without screwing them up too!
Steph
7/19/2020 04:53:00 pm
You're welcome! Glad it was helpful!
Noam
8/23/2020 03:20:26 pm
Thank you!! This worked perfectly!!
Steph
8/24/2020 05:29:30 pm
You're welcome! Happy to help. 11/21/2020 04:35:40 am
Kristina
12/29/2020 11:01:03 pm
Thanks, handy homeowners! Your how-to guide was super helpful, exactly what I needed! It would have taken me way too long to figure out rhat nut on the back of the pipe on my own. For what it’s worth, I took the PVC pipe apart, too, and cleaned it out. That’s super easy; no tools needed. Plus I didn’t have one of those hair-cleaner-outer gadgets like you did. Got everything lined up and put back together with no leaks and no extra parts. Thanks again!
Steph
12/30/2020 08:28:40 am
Awesome! So glad it was helpful!
Sam
4/20/2021 09:03:04 am
This is exactly what I needed, and it's so validating knowing I'm not the only one with this issue.
Steph
4/22/2021 07:38:49 am
You're welcome! So happy to hear it was helpful!! 4/25/2021 10:29:49 pm
THANK YOU!!!! I'm trying to avoid loosening pipe to access trap. My daughter decided soap carving was her new hobby along with making own bath bombs. I'm really not sure what Drano Max & boiling water would not cure but ....
Steph
4/27/2021 07:06:08 am
You are welcome! So happy you found our site!
Bob
12/11/2022 08:59:17 pm
Thank you so much for an easy, straight forward tutorial. Yall are the best!
madison
8/15/2023 05:20:35 pm
This helped so much thank you
Kathy
2/5/2024 03:48:46 pm
Just saved myself a plumber’s fees by following your instructions! Now my bathroom sink drains so much better. Thanks for your advice!
Steph
2/6/2024 09:28:12 am
Awesome! So glad it helped! Leave a Reply. |
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