After looking at Google questions and one of their suggested questions I decided to write this informative article answering the question “Do I need to hire a plumber to get back an earring that dropped down the sink”
To get an earring out of a bathroom sink drain you must remove the drain trap below the sink, pour it into a pan and retrieve your jewelry.
Earrings that do not float will stay in the bottom of a trap for several weeks or even months until they are removed.
How does a bathroom sink drain work
The way a bathroom sink drain works is the water goes down the drainpipe into what is called “a trap” A trap is below every bathroom, bar, and kitchen sink. The trap pipe has a curve to it where there is always water sitting in it that stops the smells from the main drain from coming back into the room. When you drop an earring or any kind of ring that is made of metal will be trapped, along with anything else that sinks. I have found coins, screws, bolts, and nails inside of the trap.
How to remove the trap
The trap is attached to the bottom of the sink “drain tailpipe” and is inserted into the “wall stub” that goes to the main sewer pipe. The trap is held to the tailpipe and the stub, by a large nut, on each side of the trap. The large nuts can be unscrewed to remove the trap.
- clear out below the sink
- loosen the upper nut on the trap and lift it up off the trap
- loosen the lower nut on the trap until the trap falls off
- pour the contents into a pan and retrieve the earring
- replace the trap and tighten the upper and lower nut
- run some water into the sink to fill the trap and check for leaks (this is important to provide a seal to stop any sewer smells from getting in the room)
Helpful hint: place a paper towel under the drain after you are done and check after running water in the sink, if the paper towel has any water spots on it the trap is leaking and the nuts will need to be tightened up a little more
The tools you will need are
- pan or bucket
- pipe wrench or adjustable plumbers pliers
- paper towels
Traps are made of both plastic and metal. Plastic traps are easier to work with than metal ones.
If you don’t find the earring in the trap you will need to check the drain stopper
Sometimes items will get caught on the drain stopper because there is hair or other nasty stuff stuck on the stopper.
The drain stopper is not hard to remove and is located on the backside of the sink drain tailpipe. If you look up under the sink there will be a little metal rod sticking out of the back of the tailpipe and it is held onto the pipe with a little nut, plastic for a plastic drain pipe, and metal for a metal drain pipe.
To remove the stopper unscrew the nut and pull out the metal rod. Now you can remove the drain stopper. The rod is held on to the bottom of the drain stopper. When you replace the drain stopper you will need to insert the rod into the hole on the bottom of the drain stopper or it will not work right.
If the jewelry that was lost down the sink floats you are out of luck, it made its way past the trap.
I hope this article has helped you find your lost treasure.
Good luck
Gary 1/31/2021