How to: Retrieving a Ring From The Drain

You pulled your wedding ring off to wash some dishes and, a second later, it slipped through your fingers and down the drain. This is a pretty terrifying situation for a lot of people, and it’s a situation that often costs hundreds of dollars if you need to hire a plumber to retrieve it – if the plumber can retrieve it at all. In this article, we’re going to tell you the easy way to get your ring out of the drain.

What You’ll Need

In order to retrieve a ring from the drain, you’re going to need a few things:

A bucket
A rag or towels
A wrench
Gloves (optional but encouraged)
Shop Vac or a wet/dry vacuum

Step-by-Step Instructions for Sinks

If your ring has fallen down the sink, the first thing to do is shut off the water! Do not let any more water flow down the drain, or you may flush your ring out of your plumbing system all together.

However, if your ring is still inside your drain’s P-trap, follow these easy steps below to retrieve it:

Shut off the water supply
Place down your rag or towels to catch excess water that may leak out or miss the bucket
Place a bucket under the P-trap (under the sink)
Using a wrench, open the P-trap by unscrewing both sides
Retrieve the ring
Reassemble parts
Turn the water supply back on
Run the water to ensure no water leaks

Instructions for Showers

Shower drains are a little trickier than sink drains. Unfortunately, you probably won’t have easy access to the P-trap. Instead, a good place to start is to remove the shower drain strainer. To do so, set up your shop vac to vacuum water, turn on the vacuum, and insert the hose into the drain. If you’re lucky, the shop vac will suck the ring out of the drain strainer and it won’t be necessary to open up any walls or floors.

However, if this doesn’t work, you’ll need to locate the P-trap under the shower and follow the same steps as retrieving a ring from a sink drain. The issue, however, is that you’ll likely need to cut into your flooring or walls.

Get Super Terry Today!

If you’re looking for quality plumbing services in the Pittsburgh area, choose Terry’s Plumbing! Our certified, experienced plumbers are ready to help 24/7. Contact us today to begin a service request.