Schrader Plumbing Blog

Precious Valuable Fall Down The Drain?

Oh NO, has your ring fallen down the drain??

Have a trinket or treasure valuable that to your horror fell down the drain? Your grandmother’s family heirloom earrings or the beautiful engagement ring that you took off to do the dishes? Your first instinct may be to think they are gone in an instant, but hopefully, you will be able to retrieve them with no damage. Get ready to pull up your DIY sleeves and with some basic knowledge of your drain plumbing, hopefully, it will be back on your finger( or on your ears;) in no time!

Read our helpful tips on how to retrieve items that wash down the drain:

Thank Goodness for the P-Trap!

As soon as you realize your treasure fell into the drain- turn off the water immediately. Hopefully, you will have turned it off before it got carried all the way to the drain stack, where if that occurred, it will drop into the sewer line and it is gone forever. If you stop the water in time, however, the item will likely remain in the p-trap under the sink.

The most effective way to try and retrieve your item is by taking apart the drainpipe and fishing out the lost item. Since your valuables will typically sink to the bottom of the bend in the P-trap (the part of the drainpipe that is shaped like a “P”), Start there. (Take note, however, that you should try to retrieve any solid object that goes down the drain, even if it’s of little or no value. If the object gets stuck in the trap, it will start to accumulate hair and debris and may eventually cause a clog in your drain plumbing.)

Here’s how to perform the task:

The P- Trap under your sink is actually designed to keep nasty sewer odors from backing up into your sink, but it thankfully doubles as a handy way to catch lost items. First, we need to open the trap to get your valuables back. The exact steps in doing so will vary depending on your specific drain plumbing, but some basic principles apply, and the process should be easy for even the most inexperienced DIY person.

1. Place a bucket under the p-trap (under the sink) to catch any water that may fall out of the pipe.
2. Unscrew the slip nut at the bend (tools will be required).
3. Unscrew the slip nut at the other end of the bend and slide the slip nut up and out of the way, which allows the bend to drop down and away from the sink.
4. At this point, the valuable may fall out of the pipe and into the bucket, or you may have to dislodge it from hair clogging up the drain. If the treasure dropped into a bathroom sink and you don’t see it, it may be caught around the drain stopper.
5. Once you have successfully located the item, you can simply reverse the steps you just took to put the plumbing components back together. Inspect any gaskets or rubber washers for wear, and consider replacing them if they are not able to seal the connection. This is also a good opportunity to clean the trap – they often get filled with gunk over time.

If you don’t succeed on your own and need help retrieving a valuable item that washed down the drain, or putting your drain system back together-contact our expert plumbers at Schrader Plumbing today! ( 817) 262-0989