Accidents happen. Your heart stops when your engagement ring or any other valuable piece of jewelry falls down the drain. Many begin to panic thinking that the ring is lost forever, but this is not the end of the story yet.

If your jewelry falls down the drain, you need to act quickly. (Call a professional plumber if you have any doubts, because blind attempts to recover the lost piece can make the case worse.)

Retrieving jewelry from a shower drain:

• Stop the water immediately.
• Dry the area with a towel.
• Unscrew the drain stopper.
• Using a telescoping magnetic pointer, gently grab the jewelry and raise the pointer out. Be very careful, call a professional plumber if you have any concerns.

You will need to use special tools such as telescoping magnetic pointers and screwdrivers to retrieve your lost jewelry. Do not substitute these tools for a piece of wire or a pencil. You may be facing the fact of loosing your ring forever.

Retrieving jewelry from a kitchen sink:

• Stop the water immediately.
• Using a vacuum, place the hose to the opening of the sink. Turn the vacuum on and let it work for a while. Hold the hose firmly to make sure that nothing is left behind. Turn the machine off and check the holding tank. You don’t need to be a professional plumber to use a vacuum cleaner, but you may need one if your jewelry is not in the holding tank.

There is one more thing you can do before calling a plumber. Look under the sink to see if you can see the clean-out of your kitchen drain. If you have one, it may be the place where your ring is. Be very careful and follow these steps:

• Get an empty bucket and a towel. Locate the clean-out pipe under your sink. The clean-out pipe holds water to prevent sewer gases from coming up the kitchen drainpipe. It also catches the items that fall down the drain, your ring for example.
• Place a towel in the bucket and put it under the clean-out. Open it and let everything come out. If your jewelry is not there, call a plumber immediately. Do not use the sink until the plumber arrives. Cover the sink with a towel to remind yourself that it cannot be used.

Call a plumber

Accidents happen, and it’s a good thing to have contact information of your plumbing company on display. Whenever you need to retrieve jewelry from the drain, install a toilet, replace pipes or anything else call a professional plumber for assistance.

When you call Atomic Plumbing to repair your water heater, unclog tough drains, or install a new bathroom sink or toilet, you’ll find your daily business will be interrupted as little as possible. Our plumbers use drop cloths and protective wear to make sure your bathroom or kitchen is as you left it, and we only use the most updated plumbing equipment on your home. To maintain a clean and functioning home, you need fixtures that work. Let Atomic Plumbing keep your pipes running clog-free.

Contact Atomic Plumbing for your Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach plumbing needs.