Bath drainage issue

[Simon Anderson]

I have been doing a major refurb on a house I bought recently and one of the key things that we did was put in a new main bathroom. On inspecting the bathrooom I have been disappointed about the speed of the bath to drain water away. I contacted the builder a couple of days ago who then sent his plumber round to look at it. The issue is that if the bath is full it takes at least 5 mins for the water to drain and if you use the shower to clean the bath and there is say an inch of water in the bath it basically doesn't drain away. The weight of water in a full bath appears to force the water away but when there is only a small amount it doesnt disperse for a very long time. There is little or no drainage "suction" if you put your hand near it full or half empty.

According to the plumber having looked at it the other day he is saying that the bath needs a new "low P trap" whatever that is!!! Having spoken the the bathroom supplier they dont believe this to be the issue as it is a standard drainage item on the bath, they didnt supply the original P trap (???) and the plumber did the work & supplied this item so why is he stating that now. The bathroom supplier reckons that there must be a blockage in the pipe somewhere.

Any thoughts on this matter and how I should handle it with the plumber/builder?

Cheers.

 

[zanwan]

The trap shouldnt cause this issue. it does sound like a blockage in the pipe somewhere, could be a ball of hair and buildup of soap scum causing this.

Several things you could try yourself to save a bit of money. Try a plunger to see if you can clear the blockage, or Mr Muscle drain blocker which is pretty good at clearing hair blockages. This should clear the blockage.

Is the bathroom upstairs or downstairs? if downstairs you may be able to pull it apart with minimal effort and check the waste pipes.

Can you post a pic of the area around trap, and where the shower waste connects onto this to help us determine if the layout could be causing the problem?