Oh, No! My Ring Slipped Down the Drain!

Slips happen! Doing dishes or washing our hands can lead to wedding, engagement, or valuable ring slipping off our hands into the drain.

If your ring has slipped off your hand and into your sink… don’t panic! Items that accidentally fall down a sink can be recovered with a little work.

Here’s How:

  1. Turn off the water. To minimize any chance of the item being flushed into the main sewer line. Hopefully, the item has stopped in what is called the P-trap of the sink. If water is not turned off, you run a greater risk of the item falling farther down the drain, where it will be harder to retrieve. The shutoff valve should be underneath or behind the fixture.
  2. Place a bucket under the P-trap (the curved section of pipe right underneath the sink). Be sure to also add towels around the bucket for possible leakage.
  3. Loosen the slip nut rings. Use channel lock pliers or your hands to first loosen the lower slip nut ring so you can slide it up to release the first end of your P trap. Once that’s done you’ll loosen the upper slip nut ring and pull down the P trap to remove it completely.
  4. Empty your P trap. Now that your P trap is free, turn it upside down and lightly jostle it so the contents, including your missing item, can fall loose into your bucket.
  5. Put it all back together. To get everything back in proper working order, just reverse these steps. Hand-tighten the slip joint nuts until tight. Use your wrench or pliers to tighten a quarter turn more. Be careful of two things: Do not cross thread and do not over tighten! Plastic traps, especially, will crack if over tightened.
  6. If you are unable to recover the lost item(s), call your trusted plumbers at KMP. If you were unable to find the ring in the sink, do not run water or flush toilets and call us immediately to help retrieve your ring!

Want your ring back now without the worry? At KMP, we offer 24-hour emergency service, and losing your wedding ring is an emergency. So, give us a call to get a highly trained, background checked, licensed technician to your home and get your ring back on your finger and out of your sink!