Stuck lav drain

[Guest]

I am a single mom of 4 kids, and as you can imagine, money is tight... so if I can do this myself, I would be thrilled:
On our bathroom sink, you pull up on the top of the faucet and this pull the drain closed. When you push it down, it is then supposed to open. It doesn't.
I cannot get it to open.
I can wedge my fingernails in the crack and manually lift it and hold it open to drain water... but I can't get it to stay open.
Is there anything I can do?
THANKS!
Stacie

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Use a small flat screwdriver to lift that pop-up assembly. That pop-up is either resting on top of the rod or it is threaded through the pop-up rod. If it doesn't remove easily than most likely the rod is holding it in place. Adjustment of the linkage can sometimes correct the problems associated with pop-up drain assemblies.

More than likely you will find nasty hair and gunk that has built up over time.

What could be your situation is that the rod either rotted off that actuates the pop-up assembly or there is limited movement in the swivel of the pop-up rod.

I would say just see if the plug will come out; inspect/clean and see what is actually wrong with the mechanism.

[jadnashua]

If you crawl under the sink, you'll see a rod coming out of the drain pipe. This usually has some sort of clip that attaches to the rod with a knob you use to open or close the stopper. If you can move that lever, see if the stopper moves. Take a look at the stopper once you get it out. That lever that screws into the drain pipe usually is set up so it sticks into the bottom hole of the stopper. There is a nut around that lever, that, if you unscrew it, the whole lever will come out. It is possible that the part of the lever that is inside of the drain is corroded or broken off.

Let us know what you find.