Such a simple thing but the cause of much joy: when you run the faucet in our bathroom, the water disappears down the drain and doesn’t back up. ‘Twas not ever thus! It’s like a weight has been lifted. And the solution was, shall we say… unexpected.

The new sink in our recently remodeled bathroom had a “slow drain” problem – within 30 seconds of running the tap, it would start filling up. Yuck. It eventually drained…. slooooowly. A little internet research only made things worse: I read that it was the flawed design of the IKEA vanity itself. That monthly maintenance with vinegar and baking soda was a must. Or that it was a “venting problem” – was it not installed correctly? Potential nighmare scenarios abounded, including a vision of our entire sink/vanity needing to be redone. 

I faced the pitfalls of finding a good / affordable plumber. I found someone who seemed great (and his Yelp reviews were, without exception, excellent). I spoke with him, even though it seemed that unclogging the drain might only be a temporary solution. But before pulling the trigger and calling him in, I thought of trying to tackle it myself with an inexpensive “drain snake” from Home Depot. Then I looked at the drain and realized there was a firmly-attached sort of grill the stopper fits into, with small openings that a snake would not go through. Sigh. I’ve had some successes, but I know when I’m overreaching in the home-handyman department. I arranged the plumber visit.

So it wasn’t anything to do with the vanity. All the new piping right up to the wall was clear of obstruction. IKEA and our vanity installer were blameless. It was…. (drum roll): 

Hairbands stuck in the wall pipe.

This must date back to our previous sink, which for a long time lacked a stopper, and there was nothing else in the drain to keep things out – not that I ever saw any hairbands go down there. Maybe our cat flipped them down there in the middle of the night! I don’t know why I don’t recall the slow-drain issue before, but maybe it was just starting to be a problem when we remodeled. At any rate, that aging, wonky sink was just one of the deficiencies that led us to want a bathroom reno in the first place.

This was definitely a job for a professional. So glad it’s sorted!

Last but not least, is my hearty recommendation of the services of Derek at Main Street Plumbing. He found the problem quickly and fixed it perfectly, at a fair price. Five stars!