Plumbing

Unclogging and Reassembling a Sink Drain

Name: Unclogging and Reassembling a Sink Drain
Uploaded: 2025-10-06T13:03:50Z
Duration: 3 min 44 s
Description: Learn how to unclog and reassemble a bathroom sink drain step-by-step. This guide covers removing the pop-up stopper, disconnecting the lever and drain insert, safely using a drain snake to clear obstructions, and reinstalling the components for smooth operation. Includes safety and cleanliness tips to protect the workspace and prevent water damage during the process.

Learn how to unclog and reassemble a bathroom sink drain step-by-step. This guide covers removing the pop-up stopper, disconnecting the lever and drain insert, safely using a drain snake to clear obstructions, and reinstalling the components for smooth operation. Includes safety and cleanliness tips to protect the workspace and prevent water damage during the process.

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Transcript

Now to do the same with a bathroom sink, you're gonna want to go ahead and remove this. Sometimes they, uh, they come right off on their own. Other times there's a pop-up lever that you're gonna have to remove from underneath the sink, and I'll show you how to do that. First sink's first. Make sure you remove all the person's belongings that is on the sink or the counter.

That way you don't get it dirty through. Um, all the drain water that might spray on it or knocking anything over and get damaged. Here's this popup lever under the sink, and you're gonna go ahead and use a wrench or some pliers and remove this large nut. Sometimes they're plastic, sometimes they're brass, and.

Um, once you remove that, you have to be careful. 'cause if there's any water in the sink, it will drain through here. Um, so make sure there's no water left over in the sink and you're not running the water either. 'cause you don't want the water to come out of here and then drain onto the floor. So you take that nut all the way off and now you have.

This plastic piece here and this open space there, and now you are able to remove the whole drain insert and note that it has a hole right there, a slot, which is where that plastic piece underneath the sink fits through. This will fit on the popup like so in in the drain down in here. With your drain auger, you loosen the thumb screw.

Here we go ahead and shove it right in the drain. And very quickly it will kind of stop. You just want to go buy that plastic piece that is still sticking in the drain, but you don't have the drain insert in there anymore. And just like before you give yourself a little bit of snake and go ahead and tighten your thumb screw down, and then you just go ahead, okay?

And rotate the snake in place as you go. If you'd like, you can fill it with a little bit of water using. The faucet and it will fill up a little bit, maybe an inch, and then you continue to snake. And once you get the obstruction, the water will go down on its own again. Once you got it, go ahead and start pushing your snake, your auger back into your snake.

There may or may not be some stuff on the end of it. That's what it's for. Okay. You're gonna wanna line up your drain insert facing towards the back of the sink. So here's your faucet, facing it this way, like this, and then you go underneath and then you loosen this back again. Pull it out. Now your insert will fall down and all you have to do is line it up.

It will go into place on its own, screw it down,

and now if you grab a foam underneath there and here's your lever,

and it will go up and down on its own. Maybe put a pair of pliers or a wrench on that just to snug it up. You don't have to get it super tight just so it doesn't back itself off and get loose.

And your drain is now unclogged and your insert is back in.