In my bathroom sink the metal plug has become stuck in the drain. The rod that allows you to open and close the drain came off, and the plug is set solid so I can’t get it out. I’ve tried slipping a knife in to pry it up but it’s set too tight. I’m thinking that a suction cup tool may be the only way to pull up the well seated plug. I’ll head to Home Depot to look for a tool like that tonight.
Any other ideas before I call a plumber?
If your pipes aren’t sealed with plumbers glue, you can unhook the u-bend beneath the sink, and shove a stick up the pipe to knock it loose. It’s what I did when the same thing happened to me. Just make sure you tighten everything back up before running more water.
I doubt any suction device can maintain a grip good enough to free the plug. Do you have the tools and knowledge to take apart the trap? I would try going from underneath with a stiff wire to push the plug up.
If you can’t get at it from underneath (slab house, basement bath, etc), if it is close enough to drill into maybe you could drill into the plug some and screw in a long screw, and pry it up with a crowbar on the screw.
I use a magnet to lift mine up. Just a regular old magnet clip from the refrigerator. The rod underneath keeps getting unhooked so until the next time I have a plumber over for something big, I just keep the plug in that one sink out and keep the magnet handy for when I need to close the drain and then open 'er back up.
That’s the most likely solution, but I’m not sure I still have any plumbers tools or the inclination to make a mess like that with my inevitable screw ups. It may be easier to simply call a plumber for a quick job.
Although the magnet idea is a great one too.
You will need to take the pipe off from in back of the tub to remove the slug. The Home Depot or Lowe’s type store will have a replacement assembly. You could just take the one you have and sand is down to bare shiny metal so it fits better and reattach all the parts you have with new clips to hold the lever to the handle and the slug.
I just purchased a bank owned property that sat for 18 months with the drain in the closed position. I tried everything to break it loose. And in my case there was no room for the pipe to come off because of cement underneath. I had to hacksaw the whole pipe including the lever inside to get mine apart.
Advice: People should exercise the drain on this style tub even when they only take showers and never leave the plug down when abandoning your property.
a strong magnet should pick it up.
drain traps under sinks shouldn’t be glued so the trap can be removed and cleaned. a large slip joint pliers would be the only tool needed to disassemble. a plastic trap might only be hand tight and you need a rag to get a grip.
The rod which raises and lowers the plug may pass through a hook in the plug, in which case the plug won’t come all the way out anyway.
I fixed it! There was a PVC connection in the back where I could unscrew a section of pipe and reach in to pop up the drain plug. Then I could tread the rod back through the hole at the bottom of plug. I don’t know if it’s as tight as it used to be, but it works.
Thanks for your help.