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Fiberglass shower drain leak w/ PICS (wingtite?)
Finding this board has been a beautiful thing. I've spent the last few days reading the previous posts on people's shower drain issues, and have learned a great deal. I ignored the problem for a long time, and just used different bathrooms in the house for showers. Very frustrating situation. I've had 2 plumbers in at different times and they just shrug and talk about ripping out things--- not kidding. Then I get charged for an estimate fee and they leave, without giving any good information. Tonight I started doing some work on it, and here are the pics.
Tried to pull out the PVC pipe, as it looked like it was disconnected from a second pipe right below it.
It wasn't coming easily, and was like it was getting stuck on something, so I got a hacksaw and but a slit in the side (the wingtite directions mentioning cutting out the original drain, so I thought "well, I'll just cut out the PVC pipe as well!"
After cutting through it, pulling and moving it up and down, for some reason it still seems attached to the "second" white piece below, even though there looks like there is a gap.
Well, I'm frustrated as heck, thought this would be as easy as the wingtite directions said it would be.
Let me mention, I don't have the wingtite piece. Figured I would get the thing out and maybe repair the PVC pipe first by pulling it out, putting silicone on the bottom, and reattaching it to the piece it was disconnected from, only it looks like it's actually not disconnected to the piece below it.
So here are pics from the bottom of the shower. A very tight space in a basement. The leak drips right on the my HVAC system, and almost rotted through it. Bought the house, and the people MUST have known about this, there was caulk the size of softballs around the joint up there. One of the plumbers I had in reached up there and removed the caulk, and then pretty much started talking about demolition etc. saying there was no way to get to it and to get AC people to take apart the ductwork and call him back to fix the plumbing.
From looking at the underneath of the shower, the leak is happening around the base of the shower, not along the pipe. As in, where the drain seems to meet the floor of the shower, that's where the water is streaming from.
Also, for the pics that are looking down into the shower you can see water that is stuck in the trap. No leaks there. It only leaks when water is running down *into* the drain.
Tried to put as much info as possible instead of some of the posts I saw... those "my shower leaks, help!" kind of things.
Thanks!
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More pictures... clarification
Thanks VERY much for the answers so far.
Getting access from the bottm is going to be near impossible. LOL... I took those pictures with the zoom, holding a flashlight pointing to the drain in one hand and the camera in the other. I think you are right about it being installed *after* the duct work was done. I took some pics so you can get an idea of how hard it is to get to the area. hkstroud you're right... no room to work. I guess I have to go about this via the top?
Both answers point to turning the nut underneath. There's no clearance to be able to get to it. I can reach with one arm, and it's only because I'm skinny. The plumber guys that came, both of them, were short and a little tubby. One guy was just a big built guy and couldn't reach, even with a ladder. Arms were too thick.
The leak comes right from where the floor meets what I assume is the nut.
Isn't there any tool to screw this out of the top? I figured that the fernco coupler (thanks hkstroud) is what's holding that pipe in there, and why I can't pull it out from the top of the drain. eschuen what is the "no-hub"?
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More Pics fiberglass shower drain leak
More pictures, as requested..
I circled the spots where the leaking comes fron when I turn on the water in the shower upstairs. It comes from the top, where the pan(?) meets the nut(?). Please correct me if I'm not using the terms correctly! Also, it is the same leakage pattern from before I started sawing through the pipe up top.
For the other pictures, you can see that there's no real space there: the duct juts right up against the wall. Can't get to anything in the "rear"... on the other side of the wall is a finished bathroom, directly below the master bath upstairs.
Vocab lesson-- the flange is the top-looking "drain" thing. And the nut is the screw thing on the bottom, that you tighten up against the underside of the shower pan (floor). Is that about right??
Also, I don't think I cut actually through that pipe---- I know it looks bad though. Now I totally understand why I couldn't pull that pipe through the top of the drain. It is attached to the other one with the black coupling. After someone explains things everything seems to clear up. Amazing.
I guess I need a list of things to get from the hardware store as well. A "nut cutter" sorry... couldn't resist. PVC pipes (lengths/sizes), I guess a new drain? Plumber's putty? I know my way around the hardware store and can find (or hey, ask!) what's needed. I just might remove the duct work and put some of that Mighty Putty around the bottom of the shower pan... (bad idea?? ) ;^)