Drains that have mechanisms to open and close them are all pretty much alike. Whether in a bathroom sink or a tub, somewhere near the inlet (or at it), there is a plug that prevents water from escaping from the fixture when it is properly positioned. When the plug is in the closed position, you can fill the sink or tub with water, but with built-in drain stoppers, that plug causes most clogs.

Here's why: A sink or a tub handles three elements when doing its job–soap, water and a person (or part of a person). The person part usually is covered with one or more of the following: loose hair, cosmetic oils, hair spray, body lotion, dead skin, and dirt.

During the scrub-down, the soap blends with the aforementioned uglies to create a messy paste. This gunk ends up traveling down the drain. The only contraption that exists between the inside of the fixture and the entrance to the city sewer plant is the built-in stopper. It is the one and only moving part in the system and is a major culprit when it comes to latching and clogging. There is no other sewer part that latches onto this gunk more quickly than that stopper. Yuck!

Often when a clog occurs, our first thoughts turn to grabbing the drain cleaner. Don't! A drain cleaner is all right to use when a p-trap is clogged (the p-trap is the curved device located just beneath the drain inlet in every plumbing fixture). But, most clogs in sinks and tubs occur above the p-trap at the built-in stopper. Using drain cleaner usually won't work on this kind of clog. The drain cleaner settles in the p-trap, completely missing the stopper. That's because the p-trap usually is several inches below the stopper. For a drain cleaner to work on a stopper, one would have to remove the p-trap, cap the lower section of the drain and fill the sink with drain cleaner.

Unfortunately, this can be dangerous, difficult and time consuming–especially with bathtubs. Built-in stoppers are irregular in shape–especially some of the ones used in sinks–and therefore are really good at catching grease-filled, gunk-inundated hair. These are elements that will cause a sink to clog more quickly than anything else. Again, adding drain cleaner doesn't do it. The drain cleaner will trickle right past the mass of hair on the drain plug and move into the p-trap where there might be no obstruction. Don't get us wrong. A slow drain can be caused by a clogged p-trap. And in such a case, drain cleaner would be our choice to correct the problem. However, it is usually less costly to first remove and inspect the drain plug. Most stoppers can be removed in just a few minutes. In fact, with some sinks the stopper is removed by lifting it and giving it a quarter turn in one direction or the other.

Tub drains are a little more complicated and often require the removal of two screws at the overflow followed by the removal of a piece or two of operating linkage. Pop-up stopper systems in tubs are slightly more complicated than the ones with the hidden stopper (plunger system). But, with a little patience, a screwdriver and some ingenuity, you just might find this one worth doing yourself.

The same holds true when a stopper is leaking. If the stopper has a gasket, it might need replacement. You might never realize that a gasket exists until you look. All good plumbing stores carry a myriad of these in just about every shape, size and form. Also, all built-in stoppers are connected to some kind of control linkage. The linkage can be adjusted to cause the drain to open more, or close more tightly. This also is a good do-it-yourself project. Once you have done one, you will want to check out every other fixture in the house.

A nice thing is that once a clogged stopper is properly cleaned, and-or adjusted, the fixture will operate as good as new.