How Much Does It Cost to Unblock a Shower Drain?

How much it costs to unblock a shower drain depends on where the blockage is. Most blocked showers are blocked in the trap directly under the plughole, which is a short job and often one you can clear yourself for nothing. The price goes up when the blockage is further along the waste pipe under the tray or floor, in a wet room gully, or in the drain outside that the shower shares with the rest of the bathroom. Our standard rates for each time band are on the published rate card; this guide explains what sits behind them and how to work out which kind of blockage you have.

What decides the cost of unblocking a shower drain?

Three things set the price: where the blockage is, what it is made of and when you book. A trap blockage is the cheapest; a blockage deeper in the waste run or in the drain below costs more because it needs more access and different equipment.

Shower blockages are almost always hair bound together with soap scum, conditioner and limescale. That mix builds up in the trap first and forms a mat that catches everything after it. It does not dissolve easily, which is why pouring things down the plughole rarely works for long.

Timing is the third lever. Our rate card has three bands: standard hours (7am to 5pm), evenings (5pm to midnight) and nights (midnight to 7am). A slow shower is annoying but rarely urgent, particularly if there is a bath or a second shower in the property, so booking in standard hours is usually the cheapest choice.

Can you unblock a shower drain yourself?

Often, yes. If the water drains slowly and nothing else in the bathroom is affected, the blockage is probably in the trap, and clearing it by hand costs nothing.

Most shower traps have a removable cover and an inner cup or dip tube that lifts out from above. Take them out, pull out the hair and sludge with gloved fingers or a plastic hair-removal strip, rinse the parts and refit them properly so the water seal is restored. A cup plunger over the plughole can shift what is left just beyond the trap. Refitting the parts correctly matters, because a trap without its water seal lets drain smells into the bathroom.

Stop if the trap parts will not come out, if you cannot see the blockage, or if the water is not draining at all after you have cleared the trap. Avoid chemical drain cleaners: they rarely clear hair, they can damage some trap seals and plastic wastes, and they leave a hazard for whoever works on the drain next. If you have used one, say so when you book.

When is a blocked shower really a blocked drain?

If the bath, basin or toilet are also slow, or water comes up in the shower tray when you flush the toilet or run the basin, the blockage is below the shower waste. That is a drain problem, and a shower-only price will not cover it.

A shower on the ground floor usually joins the soil stack or runs out to a gully or inspection chamber outside. Upstairs, it normally connects into the stack inside the house. Run the basin and the bath for a minute and check the outside gully and the nearest chamber. If either is filling, the blockage is in the underground drain and needs drain clearance from the chamber rather than work in the bathroom. Water rising in the tray when the toilet flushes points the same way; our guide to signs of a blocked drain at home covers the other symptoms.

What pushes the price up?

The price rises when the blockage is hard to reach or the shower has a less common waste system. These are the things to mention when you ask for a price, because they change the job.

Low-profile trays and boxed-in wastes. Modern low trays often have shallow traps and long, flat waste runs under the floor or behind panels. If the blockage is along that run and there is no access panel, reaching it takes longer, and sometimes means lifting a panel or working from the other end.

Wet room gullies. A wet room floor drain has its own trap and often a long run under the tiled floor. Hair collects in the gully body and further along. Clearing it is usually straightforward from the grate, but a blockage deeper in the run needs rods or a small jetter, and tiled floors rule out lifting anything easily.

Pumped shower wastes. In basements and some loft conversions, the shower drains into a small pump that lifts the water to the drain. Hair clogs the pump's filter or jams it. That is a different job from clearing a trap, so say whether you hear a pump running when you use the shower.

Repeat blockages. If the shower blocks again within weeks, look at the fall of the waste pipe and the trap design. A waste with too little fall or a trap that is hard to clean will keep blocking, and the lasting fix is to change it rather than keep paying for clearances.

How do you compare shower unblocking quotes?

Compare what each quote includes. A low figure that covers only clearing the trap is not cheaper if the blockage turns out to be in the waste run or the drain below.

Ask each company the same questions. Is the price fixed for the job or charged by time? Is VAT included? What happens, and what does it cost, if the blockage is in the drain rather than the shower? Is there an extra charge for attending in the evening or at night? Does the price change if a wet room gully or a shower pump is involved? A company that answers those clearly before it travels is one whose invoice will match what you were told.

If you have cleared the trap and the shower is still slow, tell us what you are seeing, including whether any other fittings are affected, and we will confirm the job price for your time band before anyone sets off.

For how drain unblocking is priced more generally, see our guide to how much drain unblocking costs in London.