A hair catcher
Placed on the waste, it stops hair before it enters the trap.
Home › Blocked shower
Blocked Shower: Trap, Waste Pipe and Walk-in Showers
Water rises around your feet and takes minutes to go? A blocked shower is nearly always hair and soap in the trap, sometimes a blockage further along. Our technicians get your shower draining again 7 days a week, with the price given before they start.
5,0on Google· 22 years of experience
Trap cleanedWaste and grate
Electric drain snakeIf the blockage is further
Walk-in showersChannel and fall
Price given firstBefore the work
Hair and soap in the trap
In more than half of cases the shower is blocked just below the waste. Hair catches in the trap, soap and limescale glue it together, and the passage shrinks until only a thin trickle gets through.
You can try yourself first: remove the grate, unscrew the waste cover and pull out the hair with a hook. A plunger can help on a standard tray. Avoid chemicals, which damage the trap seals.
If the trap cannot be taken apart, the waste is broken or the water still will not drain, the technician dismantles, cleans and replaces worn parts. He also checks the seal between the waste and the tray is watertight, to avoid a ceiling leak below.
Blockage further along: the electric drain snake
When the trap is clean but the water still will not drain, the blockage is further along the waste, often in a bend or where it joins the basin or bath waste.
The technician feeds an electric drain snake through the waste or an access point. The spiral follows the bends, reaches the blockage, breaks it up and pulls it back. He then flushes with hot water and checks the flow is strong again.
If the shower and basin block at the same time, or water comes up in the shower when the toilet is flushed, the blockage is in the shared stack. The technician then reaches it from below, from the cellar or inspection chamber.
A walk-in shower that drains poorly
A walk-in shower has its own weak points. The linear channel holds hair under its grate and its trap is shallow, so it blocks quickly. Cleaning the channel regularly avoids most problems.
If water stays in one corner or runs into the bathroom even with a clean channel, the tile fall is insufficient or wrongly directed. The shower flow may also be too strong for a low-height trap.
The technician checks the trap, the flow and the fall, and tells you what can be corrected: a better trap, a flow limiter, or reworking the floor fall with our renovation teams.
Repeated blockages and shared stacks
A shower that blocks every two or three months despite a clean trap often hides a defect in the waste: a pipe that is too flat, a tight bend, an old scaled pipe or a poorly made joint from an earlier renovation.
In apartment buildings, the shower connects to a shared stack that also takes the neighbours' waste. If it narrows over the years, bathrooms stacked above one another end up blocking one after the other.
After clearing, the technician can pass a camera to see the condition of the pipe. You then know whether maintenance is enough, a section needs changing, or the managing agent should arrange jetting of the stack.
Preventing blockages
A few simple habits prevent most blocked showers.
Clean the waste
Removing hair once a week takes a minute.
Hot water
Run very hot water for a few seconds after showering to loosen soap.
Go easy on bath oils
They set in the trap with limescale.
Maintain the channel
On a walk-in shower, rinse the grate and channel trap regularly.
How the visit works
Your call
Tell us if other fittings are affected and what type of shower you have.
Price given
The technician locates the blockage and gives you the price.
Draining again
Trap cleaned or snake used, flushing, waste seal checked, job sheet.
What our customers say
Where do we work?
Our technicians work throughout Belgium, in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia.
BrusselsWalloon BrabantFlemish BrabantHainautNamur provinceLiège provinceLuxembourg provinceAntwerpEast FlandersWest FlandersLimburg
Frequently asked questions
How do I unblock a shower myself?
Remove the grate, clean the waste and trap, then try a plunger. If the water still will not go, the blockage is further along: call us on 0477 03 88 98.
Do baking soda and vinegar work?
They may help with light soap build-up, rarely with a hair plug. Unlike strong chemicals, they do not harm pipes.
Why does water come up in my shower when I flush the toilet?
The blockage is in the shared waste, downstream of both the shower and the toilet. It must be cleared from lower down.
My shower smells. Is that linked?
Often: hair and soap build-up ferments in the trap. Cleaning it fixes both the smell and the drainage.
Do you come at weekends?
Yes, 7 days a week, with any extra charge quoted on the phone.
How much does unblocking a shower cost?
Cleaning a trap is quick; a blockage in the stack takes more. The price is given before the work.
Do you have to break the tiles of a walk-in shower?
Almost never. The channel or waste trap comes out from above and the snake goes through the same opening.
Shower not draining?
Call us, book a slot online or request a quote.