# Istanbul Washbasin Unclogging

Source: https://cantleyvidanjoraltyapi.com/en/washbasin-unclogging/

To unclog a bathroom sink, Cantley checks the trap under the basin, the drain plug and the connection inside the wall in turn, and clears the blockage with a snake or pressurised water wherever it finds it. A bathroom washbasin looks small, but it can hide a stubborn clump of hair, toothpaste, soap residue and shaving debris stuck together. The water first drains slowly, then stops completely, and a grey pool is left at the bottom of the basin. At that point, instead of running the tap and waiting, you need to find where the blockage really is.

Most of the work of clearing a washbasin drain is done under the countertop, inside the cabinet, and no tiles or marble worktop are removed. If the trap is clean, the problem is in the wall connection or in the bathroom's shared line, and that is where the snake and the camera come in. Besides homes, basins in places used by many people, such as offices, cafés, schools and gyms, block more often, and liquid soap residue and pieces of paper towel are the most common causes there. When the job is finished, the team leaves the inside of the cabinet dry and shows you that the trap connections are not leaking.

## First signs of a blocked washbasin

A washbasin rarely blocks all at once; most of the time it warns you weeks in advance.

### Slow draining

If the water stays at the bottom of the basin for a while after you wash your hands, hair and soap have started to build up under the drain plug or in the trap. If you act at this stage, the blockage is cleared by the shortest route before it closes up completely.

### Smell from the overflow hole

If a sour, mouldy smell comes from the overflow hole at the front of the basin or from the drain opening, organic sediment is rotting in the trap. This smell usually comes from the sticky layer around the plug mechanism, and it does not go away with products that only mask odours.

### Gurgling and bubbles

A gurgling sound from the basin as the water drains, or bubbles in the basin when a nearby shower empties, shows that air is trapped in the line. If the basin and the shower are connected to the same line, the narrowing is most likely in that shared section.

### The plug sticks

If a push-type or rod-type plug does not open properly, hair wound around its underside may be cutting off the flow of water and locking the mechanism at the same time. Forcing the plug out of place damages the seal and can cause a leak under the basin.

### Damp in the cabinet

If you see wetness on the floor of the basin cabinet, white limescale marks on the trap connections or swollen chipboard, the blockage may be building pressure in the trap and straining the seals. In that case the blockage needs to be cleared and the connections need to be checked over as well.

## Habits that narrow the washbasin drain

The biggest enemy of a bathroom basin is hair. Hair left in the comb, hairs that fall during shaving and fine hairs that come off while washing your face catch on the plug mechanism right under the drain. These strands look harmless on their own, but combined with soap and toothpaste they turn into a tight felt-like mat. As the mat grows, the cross-section the water passes through gets smaller, and the basin first slows down, then stops. That is why most washbasin blockages start in the first few centimetres of the drain.

The second cause is substances that are poured into the basin but do not dissolve in water. Clay masks, hair dye residue, shaving foam and thick creams plaster themselves onto the pipe wall. Limescale left by hard water mixes into this layer and turns it stony. In older buildings especially, the thin pipes running from the trap to the wall may have narrowed on the inside; in that case the basin blocks again quickly even right after it has been cleaned, and the problem only goes away when the whole line is cleaned from start to finish.

The third cause is the way the plumbing was installed. A trap fitted at the wrong height, a wall connection left without a fall, or a basin joined to the bathroom's other drains through a narrow line all weaken the flow of water. In businesses, basins are used by many people through the day, so build-up speeds up; paper towel pieces and liquid soap residue collect layer by layer in the trap. If blockages keep coming back in such places, a camera inspection shows where the problem comes from.

## How we clear a washbasin drain

We start from the simplest point and work towards the deeper part of the line, so no part is taken apart unnecessarily.

1. **Plug and strainer**: First the basin's plug mechanism is removed and the hair and sticky sediment wound around it are cleaned off. Many basins ease up at this stage and start taking water quickly again. When the plug is refitted, its seal is checked; if it is worn, we recommend replacing it with a new one so it does not leak later.
2. **Cleaning the trap**: With a bucket placed underneath, the trap is unscrewed by hand, the build-up inside is emptied and the parts are washed. The inner surfaces of bottle traps and spiral traps are cleared of limescale. When the connections are refitted, the seals are seated properly, then the water is turned on and the joints are tested together with you for leaks, and the floor of the cabinet is checked.
3. **Clearing the wall line**: If the trap is clean but the water still does not drain, the blockage is further along, beyond the wall connection. A motorised drain snake with a fine tip is fed into this line, and it breaks up the sediment as it turns through the bends. This is where clearing the sink without breaking anything comes in: the line is cleaned without removing tiles or the countertop.
4. **Camera and jetting**: If the blockage keeps returning or the line is long, the inside of the pipe is viewed with a camera. Pipes coated with limescale or grease are washed with high-pressure water. Finally the basin is filled and emptied to check the flow, and the inside of the cabinet is left dry, clean and tidy.

## What you can do at the basin while you wait

- Empty the inside of the basin cabinet and put a bucket or a towel on its floor; water may spill when the trap is unscrewed.
- Do not pour chemical drain opener into a blocked basin; the chemical collects in the trap and can splash onto your hands or face when it is taken apart.
- You can pull out hair caught on the visible part of the plug with a glove on, but do not try to force the mechanism out.
- Use another basin for brushing your teeth and washing your hands for a while, so the water level in the blocked basin does not rise.
- If a bad smell is coming from the overflow hole, open the bathroom window to ventilate and keep the door closed.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why does the washbasin blockage keep coming back?

It usually comes back because only the top part of the blockage was cleared. A plunger or a chemical opens a small path for the water, but the layer of hair and soap on the pipe wall stays in place and grows back quickly. Taking the trap off and cleaning it, clearing the wall line with a snake and, when needed, washing it with high-pressure water breaks this cycle.

### Are the countertop or tiles removed to clear a washbasin drain?

No, they are not. The basin drain is reached from the cabinet under the countertop, through the trap and the wall connection. If the blockage is in the line inside the wall, the snake and the camera go in through the same connection. Lifting a marble or ceramic countertop is only discussed if the pipe is broken or leaking and the camera clearly shows it.

### Can using a drain opener damage the pipe?

It can. Drain openers with strong caustic or acid wear down the surface of PVC pipes and seals, and speed up rust in old metal pipes. When they fail to clear the blockage fully, the chemical stays in the trap and is dangerous when the trap is unscrewed. Mixing different products can release harmful gas. If you have used one, tell the team which product it was.

### If the basin and the shower block together, where is the problem?

Most likely in the shared line where the basin and the shower join. If the two drains are affected one after the other or at the same time, the blockage is building up at the point their water passes through. In this case, cleaning only the basin trap gives short-lived relief. The shared line is cleared from the most suitable drain with a snake or a drain robot and then checked with a camera.

### Is regular maintenance done for washbasins in businesses?

Yes, it can be done. In heavily used places such as offices, cafés and gyms, if the traps and the shared line are cleaned at set intervals, blockages do not appear during working hours. During maintenance the traps are emptied, the line is washed with high-pressure water and, if needed, checked with a camera. We set the maintenance interval together with you after seeing how heavily the basins are used.

### Is a bad smell from the basin a sign of a blockage?

Most of the time, yes. Hair and soap residue rotting in the trap and the plug mechanism give off a sour smell; even if the water keeps draining, a blockage has begun. In basins that are not used for a long time, though, the water in the trap evaporates and a sewer smell comes up, and running the tap for a while fixes it. If the smell continues, the trap and the line need to be cleaned.

## If your washbasin has slowed down, do not wait

For a basin that drains slowly or has stopped completely, call 0212 923 66 85 or write to us on WhatsApp if you prefer. The Cantley team comes to every district 24/7, checks everything from the trap to the wall line and clears it without breaking anything.

Phone: 0212 923 66 85 (tel:+902129236685)  
WhatsApp: https://wa.me/905315687185