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Brass drain installed incorrectly in pebble shower?

Asked Jul 6, 2010, 04:29 PM — 7 Answers
Hi Experts.

Thanks so much for looking at my question. I had some water damage on the ceiling one floor below this shower. I found some grout and caulk issues (holes) so I figured that's probably the issue. When I removed the caulk at the bottom edges of the walls, I found standing water below it. So I opened up the drain assembly and this is what I found:

Http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/299/dsc0088or.jpg

Note the picture is huge so you can zoom in.

The brass parts (AB&A #6420) were screwed together only a small number of turns, presumably to make the drain level with the stones. The rest of the space around it was filled with some decomposing putty (in the bag on the left.) The plastic ring (shown at top) and a fiber ring (in bag on right, decomposed) were installed as if the two brass pieces were going to be screwed together entirely. In other words, they were embedded in the putty and doing nothing. Everything was wet of course since there was nothing stopping the water from settling around the drain (in the putty.)

Having read some of your other discussions, particularly about liners being wedged between two drain pieces, I suspect this installation is nonsense? The brass pieces seem designed to hold liner between them (snug) instead of being used as a spacer.

Also, I can't figure out what the horizontal cut in the PVC pipe is.

Could you please tell me if this install is just something fancy that I don't know about or if it is simply complete nonsense/hack?

Thanks for your time,
Anton

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7 Answers
speedball1's Avatar
speedball1 Posts: 27,680, Reputation: 9546
Senior Plumbing Expert
  
#2

Jul 6, 2010, 04:59 PM


Did your shower drain look like this or very close to it?(see image) The bottom part of the flange n goes first. Then the shower pan and the top half of the flange clamos over the drain.Back to you. You may then put the drain of your choice, PVC, Chrome or brass on then female threads of the flange. . There should be no putty involved as the flange has weep holes that drain out any water that seeps through the tile and mud to the pan. Was this job permitted and inspected? Let me know , Tom
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AntonArcher's Avatar
AntonArcher Posts: 5, Reputation: 0
Junior Member
  
#3

Jul 6, 2010, 05:12 PM
Hi Speedball.

Thanks for looking at this. My drain consists only of the brass part that you see in my picture (lying on the ground towards the top of the picture) screwed into the bottom part, but only until it is level with the ground. That's why there is so much space left between the top brass plate and the stones, which is where all the putty was. Then a metal drain cover (disk) is screwed to it.

I can make another picture with everything in place if you want.

All of this work was done in a gut renovation before I bought the house. I suspect the flipper didn't care all that much as long as it looks right. I am very worried that this is going to need to be ripped up. Can you tell from the picture if this is the case?

Thanks,
Anton
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AntonArcher's Avatar
AntonArcher Posts: 5, Reputation: 0
Junior Member
  
#4

Jul 6, 2010, 05:25 PM
Comment on AntonArcher's post
Quote:
Originally Posted by AntonArcher View Post
Hi Speedball.

Thanks for looking at this. My drain consists only of the brass part that you see in my picture (lying on the ground towards the top of the picture) screwed into the bottom part, but only until it is level with the ground. That's why there is so much space left between the top brass plate and the stones, which is where all the putty was. Then a metal drain cover (disk) is screwed to it.

I can make another picture with everything in place if you want.

All of this work was done in a gut renovation before I bought the house. I suspect the flipper didn't care all that much as long as it looks right. I am very worried that this is going to need to be ripped up. Can you tell from the picture if this is the case?

Thanks,
Anton
PS: The exact drain part is model 6420 shown on page 11 here:
http://www.abainc.net/PDFFiles/Brass.pdf

Also, I could not find any weep holes anywhere.
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AntonArcher's Avatar
AntonArcher Posts: 5, Reputation: 0
Junior Member
  
#5

Jul 6, 2010, 05:27 PM
Comment on speedball1's post
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedball1 View Post
Did your shower drain look like this or very close to it?(see image) The bottom part of the flange n goes first. Then the shower pan and the top half of the flange clamos over the drain.Back to you. You may then put the drain of your choice, PVC, Chrome or brass on then female threads of the flange. . There should be no putty involved as the flange has weep holes that drain out any water that seeps through the tile and mud to the pan. Was this job permitted and inspected? Let me know , Tom
oops, sorry I posted my response as an answer below (by mistake)
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Milo Dolezal's Avatar
Milo Dolezal Posts: 5,881, Reputation: 1933
Plumbing Expert
  
#6

Jul 7, 2010, 07:17 AM


Wrong drain. Has no weep holes. This type of drain as in your posted link is NOT to be used in showers. This is what happens:

1. You open hot water
2. Hot water hits cold pebble-covered shower floor
3. Concrete condensates
4. Condensation has no place to go ( no weep holes ) so it just sits around

This is a common problem. It usually happens when inexperienced tradesman does the installation. If you want to correct it, you have to replace the shower drain with the one in Tom's post. Sorry, no way around it.
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AntonArcher's Avatar
AntonArcher Posts: 5, Reputation: 0
Junior Member
  
#7

Jul 9, 2010, 04:27 PM
Comment on Milo Dolezal's post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milo Dolezal View Post
Wrong drain. Has no weep holes. This type of drain as in your posted link is NOT to be used in showers. This is what happens:

1. You open hot water
2. Hot water hits cold pebble-covered shower floor
3. Concrete condensates
4. Condensation has no place to go ( no weep holes ) so it just sits around

This is a common problem. It usually happens when inexperienced tradesman does the installation. If you want to correct it, you have to replace the shower drain with the one in Tom's post. Sorry, no way around it.
Understood. So your expectation is that I would have to have the whole job re-done to get this fixed? I just want to know what you think before I call a contractor and get surprised.
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Milo Dolezal's Avatar
Milo Dolezal Posts: 5,881, Reputation: 1933
Plumbing Expert
  
#8

Jul 10, 2010, 12:38 AM


AntonArcher, you don't have to necessarily remove entire floor. It depends how skilled your contractor is. (S)he can cut 12" x 12" square, carefully remove tile and concrete, cut water proofing and remove the drain. Then, install new drain and water-proof the patch . Re-pour concrete and reset stone tile. But this has to be done by somebody who knows what (s)he is doing.

However, if I am the contractor on the job, I remove the entire floor....
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