I am not really great at DIY, so apologies in advance! I have a basic query that I am hoping someone here may be able to answer :-)
My shower is draining extremely slowly. In the past getting hair out of the waste with some tweezers or using some bleach or one of those unblocker liquids has sorted this. However the drainage at the minute is almost non existent and bleach etc. hasn't helped. I have had to bail the collected water out of the shower tray manually.
I have only ever lifted hair out using tweezers, fighting my way past the grate (little lugs really - see picture). I suspect that I should instead be able to remove the grate / section of the waste and have more scope of locating any debris. I mean this to be done from above - the floor is tiled.
Looking online most shower wastes allow you to remove a grate for less obstructed access to the unit below. Unfortunately my waste doesn't look like any I have found online, so I wanted to see if anyone would be able to provide some advice before I hoak at it any more and end up causing a bigger problem :-(
I have attached a picture of the waste as seen from above. There are two (once chrome) rings - I am assuming that the outside one will be paired with the main waste plumping under the shower tray, and I am _hoping_ that the inner ring (with the little lugs sticking into the actual hole) will be removable in some way. Does anyone recognise this layout and if so can you shed any light on whether this is the case or not?
I have tried turning the inside ring - I used a tool (wire stripper) which just happens to fit in between the lugs on either side of the hole. I was able to spin the middle ring (and attached lugs obviously) a small amount anticlockwise, but then it jammed with the outer ring which started to turn a tiny fraction - I stopped and turned it all back again!
For info if it helps - using a torch while turning (inside ring only) I notice that the inner ring also turns a plastic tube which runs down the inside of the hole. There is normally water in the tube but I extracted this (using the plunger & straw unit from a hand soap dispenser). With the water extracted I see that this tube stops slightly short of what i presume is the plastic bottom of the main waste plumbing under the shower tray.
