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Showering Ankle-Deep? Your Floor Drain Is Asking for Help

Korean bathrooms are wet rooms: the shower, the sink overflow, and often the washing machine all exit through that one grated hole in the floor. When it slows down, the whole bathroom slows down with it. Here's how we get it moving again.

Signs it's time to text us

Water collects around your feet mid-shower and drains long after you're done
The washing machine's drain cycle sends water back up through the floor grate
Gray sludge or hair mats appear when you lift the drain cover
A sewer smell fills the bathroom after you've been away for a few days
You live on a lower floor of a villa and the drain burps during heavy rain — the building's main line may be involved, and we'll say so honestly
Every DIY fix (baking soda, enzyme gel, a bent hanger) buys a week at most

Quick self-check before we come: lift the grate and pull out the plastic cup underneath — many Korean floor drains have a removable sediment trap that fills with hair and soap. If the water still won't move after cleaning it, the blockage is deeper in the line. That's where we come in.

Balcony or rooftop drain that only floods in rain? That is the rain line, a separate pipe from the bathroom — see rooftop & balcony rain drain.

Why drains back up in Korean villas: the shared main, semi-basement units, monsoon week

Standing water that appears without you running anything is not a slow drain — it is a backup (하수구 역류), and the cause usually sits outside your bathroom.

The shared main narrows

A villa's units all drain into one horizontal main under the ground floor. Years of grease from upstairs kitchens coat it; the lowest fixture in the building — often your shower drain — is where the water surfaces first.

Semi-basement (반지하) units sit below the street line

When the street sewer is full, the lowest floor drain in the building is the relief point. A backflow-prevention valve (역류방지밸브) on that unit's line is something we fit; flood-barrier programs for semi-basements are run by the district office (구청) — ask them directly.

Monsoon week

In late June and July the street system runs full for days. A line that was half-blocked in May becomes a backup in July. A camera look and a jetting pass before the rains is the boring, effective answer.

Our process, start to finish

1 · Text the drain, get a range

A photo of the open drain plus your building type (villa, apartment, officetel) tells us most of what we need. You get a range and a realistic visit window by text.

2 · Find where the clog actually sits

Local trap, the horizontal run under the floor, or the building riser — the fix and the effort differ, so we locate it first rather than guessing at your expense.

3 · One fixed number, your approval

Price depends on where the blockage sits and how far the machine has to go — confirmed before we start. You hear the figure and the VAT-included total before any machine starts.

4 · Clear, then prove it

We clear the line, then test with the shower running and a washing-machine drain cycle where relevant — the two flows that exposed the problem in the first place.

Price

Fixed quote on site · VAT 10% separate

Price depends on where the blockage sits and how far the machine has to go — confirmed before we start.

Fixed quote before work starts — you agree to the number first. If the scope turns out to be different mid-job, we stop and explain before anything continues.
Card payment accepted. Cash receipt or corporate tax invoice (세금계산서) issued on request.
VAT 10% is quoted separately, and we tell you the VAT-included total before starting.