How to Snake a Bathroom Drain
- 1). Remove the clutter from underneath the sink and place a bucket below the P-trap. Water is held in the P-trap and you'll need to catch or dump the water into the bucket.
- 2). Locate the two slip nuts on both sides of the trap. Turn the nuts counterclockwise to remove the trap. Dump the contents from the trap into the bucket. The nuts generally can be removed with your hands, but a pipe wrench will remove stuck nuts.
- 3). Loosen the setscrew at the end of the snake and pull out 6 to 10 inches of cable, then retighten the setscrew.
- 4). Insert the snake into the pipe and turn the handle clockwise to spin the snake into the drain. Loosen the setscrew and pull out another 6 to 10 inches of cable as needed. Tighten the setscrew and continue turning the handle to push the snake through the drain.
- 5). Turn the snake handle counterclockwise once the snake, or auger, has made contact with the clog. The clog may attach itself to the end of the snake, or the snake might dislodge the clog and push it through the pipe. Wipe the snake of gunk as the snake is extracted from the pipe.
- 6). Reassemble the P-trap using your hands to turn the slip nuts.
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