help, my shower is not draining...drain is completely blocked

[lbatto]

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what the heck is causing my shower drain to clog. I took the metal cover off and found something almost completely covering my drain. It is an off white color, hard like it is calcified. I started to use a screwdriver to chip away at it and the hole got a little better, then I used a tool that has little claws on the end of it to pick up the big pieces of whatever it is. I've attached the pics if what I've uncovered.

The first pic is how I found it when I first took the metal cap off. The second pic is the stuff that I pulled out..this one is softer than what was on the side of the pipes which I had to chisel away. The third pic is what it looks like after.

Can anyone help me identify what is causing my drain and how I can prevent it from happening again.

Thanks in advance!

 

[IFIXH20]

I have seen this numerous times and each time the home has very very hard water. If you have very hard water a water softner will help. A good drain cleaning with a power snake should clean the drain. The soft stuff is hair and gunk.

 

[lbatto]

Thanks for reply. I would've never thought that hard water can cause the drain to completely close up. It's really unbelievable. I wonder if pouring drano and liquid plumber made the clog worse because the more I poured drano and liquid plumber...the worse it got. One thing I do have to admit is, I let it sit in the pipes longer than what it should have. My thought process on that was, if the direction says to leave in in longer (30 mins) for tougher clogs, why not leave in there for 2 hours, then it will really unclog it...NOT the case, lol. I read that drano and liquid plumber can cause crystallization in your pipes???

Btw...the drain looks a lot better now, even better than pic #3...I can actually see the pvc pipe now =)

 

[IFIXH20]

I'm not saying hard water alone is causing the crystallization. I think the very hard water is having a reaction to some type of product being used when showering.

 

[Caduceus]

I have seen this many times, also. With the exposed aggregate design of your shower you don't get the cleansing flow of water across the flat floor of the shower into the drain as you would with a smooth finished surface. This makes it easier for ingredients in soaps and conditioners to build up in the drain.
Gobs of hair usually accompany the build up, so removing the cover and flushing the pipe with a big bucket of water monthly could probably help cleanse the drain.

 

[Zanne]

Caduceus, do you think vinegar would help clear it out too? Or just water?

 

[johnjh2o]

These work if it's like most shower stoppages. (soap scum and hair)
http://zipitclean.com/

 

[Caduceus]

Caduceus, do you think vinegar would help clear it out too? Or just water?

Good question, but hard to answer. It depends on what is in the drain. If you have mostly soap build up most soaps are basic with a ph higher than 7.0 , but could also be "ph balanced for skin" as the advertisers say. Vinegar usually is between 2.5 and 4.0 (acidic) and will break up soap scum.
But, shampoos are usually a little more acidic (ph of 5.0 to 6.5 depending on manufacturers) and a basic cleanser (over 7.0) would be more useful.
Also, hard water has a higher ph and is basic, so an acidic cleaner, like vinegar, could work.
So, if you have hard water, shampoos, conditioners and soap build up in a drain you have a gunky mix of stuff with various ph levels.
With this I could simply say this; Try it. If it works for what's in your drain, great. Use it in the future. It's relatively safe to apply. If not, then try more basic remedies like baking soda.
Sometimes the most simple solution could also be scraping the sides and using a wet-vac and sucking all of the crud out of the drain, too.

 

[Zanne]

Good question, but hard to answer. It depends on what is in the drain. If you have mostly soap build up most soaps are basic with a ph higher than 7.0 , but could also be "ph balanced for skin" as the advertisers say. Vinegar usually is between 2.5 and 4.0 (acidic) and will break up soap scum.
But, shampoos are usually a little more acidic (ph of 5.0 to 6.5 depending on manufacturers) and a basic cleanser (over 7.0) would be more useful.
Also, hard water has a higher ph and is basic, so an acidic cleaner, like vinegar, could work.
So, if you have hard water, shampoos, conditioners and soap build up in a drain you have a gunky mix of stuff with various ph levels.
With this I could simply say this; Try it. If it works for what's in your drain, great. Use it in the future. It's relatively safe to apply. If not, then try more basic remedies like baking soda.
Sometimes the most simple solution could also be scraping the sides and using a wet-vac and sucking all of the crud out of the drain, too.

Thank you! I never even thought about the PH balance. I didn't even know why vinegar worked in some situations-- I just knew that sometimes it was recommended. That makes a lot more sense to me now.

 

[lbatto]

I'm not saying hard water alone is causing the crystallization. I think the very hard water is having a reaction to some type of product being used when showering.

Maybe it's reacting with the drano and liquid plumber I've been shoving down there. I must've used 10 huge Costco bottles to try to clear this problem

 

[lbatto]

These work if it's like most shower stoppages. (soap scum and hair)
http://zipitclean.com/

Between my long hair, my dog's hair...I'm sure something like that will come handy in the future...although I'm not so sure that would've worked for this case this time

 

[IFIXH20]

Maybe it's reacting with the drano and liquid plumber I've been shoving down there. I must've used 10 huge Costco bottles to try to clear this problem

We are not big on drain cleaners. But I have to admit I have used a chemical we sometimes use on men urinal trap stoppage to clear one of the shower drain. That one was really bad.