I really dislike standing in dirty bath tub water or clogged shower water! I would venture to say that most would agree. This is one of those dreaded jobs that really needs to be done at least on a monthly basis. The drains become clogged with many different items, however, the most popular culprits are the rubber hair bands and long hair. Yes, we are blamming it on the ladies! Just kidding! The really tough clogs are legos or plastic toys! I would be interested if anyone knows the best way to unclog a tub with a lego blockage? Maybe they make some chemical to dissolve it? Anyway….

Managing several vacation properties and having 4 ladies in my house with long hair forced me to find a way to keep up with these clogged drains. Therefore, I am now an expert at unclogging drains in bath tubs and showers. I have found that you can always improvise with a screw driver, however, the best investment for clearing clogged drains is the $25 to $50 portable snake. Here is a photo of my trusty little friend! You can find plumbers snakes at most hardware stores. By the way, there is really no good way to take a photo of a plumbers snake, especially a used one.

This inexpensive tool can save you alot of grief and expensive plumbers calls. Now I must say it is not the most pleasant job but this tool is very easy to use. Your guests may be standing in cold and dirty bath tub water as they shower! Yuck! Next time you are in one of your vacation rentals run the shower for a while and see if this occurring. If so, just pop the cover off the drain and snake it out. The snake above is 25 feet in length. It has a spring like tip and a handle up top that allows you to spin the snake around in the drain and grab on to the items causing the blockage. This tool should do the trick for most of the drains in your rentals.

I have used the typical drain cleaners and they work every now and then but you have to wait, they are not cheap, some can damage your pipes, some produce caustic fumes and you have to make sure children do not get into them. The quick and safest method is to use a plumbers snake. Just grab what is in the way and yank it out. Professional plumbers have powered snake tools that can cut through tree roots and often can be 200 feet in length. Hopefully we won’t need one of those for a while!

I think this small drain tool is a must have for vacation rental owners and maintenance staff. Do you have a tool that you consider to be a “must have” for vacation homeowners and managers? Please let us know by commenting to this entry and maybe we can save some more time and money!

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