How to prepare a sink, shower or bath for unblocking

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When snaking a sink, bath, shower or basin, you can feed the drain auger into the plughole. Sometimes, in order to do this, you will need to remove the drain cover. This is usually screwed on and will require elbow grease and some thin-nose pliers to unscrew.

The type of plughole will determine how it needs to be removed, but here is an example of how it may work.

To remove the drain cover…

Step 1- Unscrew

If present, unscrew the visible screw, which secures the decorative finishing piece of the plughole, using a screwdriver.

Step 2- Remove decorative piece

Remove the decorative finishing piece.

Step 3- Grip plug with pliers

Use pliers to grip the plughole. Lower pliers into the plughole holes.

Step 4- Unscrew plughole

Rotate the pliers in an anti-clockwise direction to unscrew the drain cover.

You may require a set of extra-long pliers to act as a turning handle, if the plughole resists unscrewing.

Step 5- Remove plughole

Remove the plughole.

To use the overflow…

In order to do this, ensure the hole is big enough and remove any metal pieces with a screwdriver.