It's a scene in many comedies, a ring somehow slips off the finger, falls and goes right down a drain. And then you experience sheer panic!
If it's the drain in a sink you have the luxury of dis-assembling the pipe and P-trap under the sink. But if the ring falls down the drain in a shower or a bathtub the problem is compounded simply because you can't get to those pipes so easily or at all.
Yes, you can call a plumber to retrieve that wedding ring, or engagement ring or whatever other piece of jewelry may have fallen down the drain. But, if you're desperate, you can try the following methods to get your precious ring back before you call the emergency plumber.
So, what can you do get your ring out of a shower or bathtub drain? There are basically 3 methods you can try to retrieve your ring from a shower or bathtub drain. One - use a wet/dry vacuum or shop vac to suck it up. Two - Use a coat hanger or fishing line with a hook. Three - Use a strong magnet on a string.
First things first, don't panic - it will be alright.
Here are some easy steps you can take to try to get your piece of jewelry out of the shower or bathtub drain.
- If the water is running, turn it off. You don't want to push the ring further down the drain.
- If you have a Shop Vac or a wet/dry vacuum cleaner, try using that to suck up the ring (or jewelry) from the drain.
- If you don't have a vacuum you can use, and you can see the ring in the drain you may want to try using anything that you can shape as a hook (like a wire coat hanger or a fishing line with a hook) to try to retrieve it.
- If you happen to have a strong enough magnet (and your ring or jewelry has some iron in it) you may be able to lower down that magnet using a string and retrieve it that way.
- Note: if your pipes are galvanized steel you may not be able to use the magnet trick.
Dropped Something Down The Shower or Bathtub Drain
Most items that are dropped in the shower, even jewelry don't fall down the drain IF you have a cover that can capture it. Of course, if you drop a small gem or diamond that may still go through the drain holes in the cover but generally, pieces of jewelry are larger than that.
Related Questions
Ring went down the bathroom sink - Dis-assembling the drain pipe and P-trap under your bathroom sink is the best solution to capturing your rink or any other small item that you may have accidentally fallen down the sink drain.
Wedding ring fell in the sink's overflow drain - If you can't fish out the ring with a small hook or a wet/dry vacuum then check the P-trap just in case. If you still don't see you may have to remove the sink and examine the pipes that the overflow drains into.
If you are having problems getting rings or jewelry or other items from your drains or water pipes, call the Atlanta plumbers - Atlantis Plumbing today at 770-505-8570. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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