The drain service of Pure Mechanical GroupMetro Vancouver + Fraser Valley
Drain problems · Bathroom

Standing in water in the shower

If the water is over your toes by the end of a shower, the drain is partly blocked. It is nearly always hair bound together with soap, sitting a hand's length down.

Andrew HendersonReviewed by Andrew Henderson, Red Seal plumber and founder of Pure Mechanical Group. Last reviewed November 2026.

Cutaway drawing of a shower drain with a hair blockage in the trap and a cable reaching it
Hair collects in the trap under the drain

What it usually means

Hair and soap in the trapSlow for weeks, getting worse. The plug is within reach of the drain opening.
Soap and hard-water scale further downThe trap is clean but the line is narrowed. Common in older showers and with bar soap.
A shared line with the tub or sinkIf the bathroom sink is also slow, the blockage is past where they join.
A new shower that has never drained wellThe base or the pipe was installed without enough slope. Clearing it will not fix that.
The main lineIf water comes up in the shower when the toilet flushes or the washer drains, it is not the shower. See every drain is slow.

What to check yourself

  1. Take the drain cover off. Most lift out or have one screw.
  2. Pull out what you can see with gloves or needle-nose pliers.
  3. Push a plastic barbed drain strip down, twist and pull it back. They cost a few dollars at any hardware store and get most hair clogs.
  4. Run hot water for a minute and see whether it keeps up.
  5. Do not pour drain cleaner into a shower. It pools in the trap under your feet. Why plumbers say no.
Technician clearing a bathtub drain through the overflow with a hand-held drain machine
Clearing a bathtub drain through the overflow.

Call a plumber if

  • The strip comes back clean and it is still slow
  • Water comes up in the shower when another fixture drains
  • There is a stain on the ceiling below the shower
  • It has been slow since the shower was installed

Call 1-800-604-0631, any hour.

What fixing it costs

Clearing a shower drain is a flat price: from $329. A second drain cleared on the same visit, such as the tub or sink beside it, is $149. What a shower clog costs and why.

Those are regular-hours prices (9 to 5, Monday to Friday). Outside those hours every price is double. Each covers up to 2 hours on site, and the drain is tested in front of you before we leave.

Questions people ask

How do I stop it happening again?

A hair catcher over or in the drain. Clean it every week. It is the cheapest plumbing fix there is.

Is a slow shower drain worth calling about?

If the strip does not fix it, yes. Standing water finds its way past old grout and seals, and a leak into the ceiling below costs far more than the clog.

Does a tiled shower with a linear drain clog differently?

Linear drains have a long trough that collects hair and soap along its length. Lift the grate and clean the trough before assuming the pipe is blocked.

Rather have a plumber look?

Call 1-800-604-0631Book a plumber