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jp71702
May 25, 2004, 10:11 AM
Hi I have a shower that drains slow about 1 gallon per minute. I had two different plumers come out and snake the drains about 16-20feet but did not work. We had a new tub put in and over flow pipe still having the same problem. The drain for my other shower works fine can I tap in to that drain with out any problems? Thank you Jorge ortega

speedball1
May 25, 2004, 12:16 PM
How many fixtures do you want to tap into the shower line? If your showers are back to back and are vented correctly I see no reason you can't tie the two showers to a common drain. But I'm curious as to why your shower won't drain if the line's clear. Is it not vented? Has tile grout built up in the drain line and the snake just rolls right past it? Please explain what you mean about the new tubs overflow pipe having the same
Problem? Are you saying the new tub's on the same line and drains slow also? Did this problem just start with the installation of the new tub and how old is the shower that drains slow? Please answer these questions and any other information you might have so that I might be better prepared to help you. Regards, Tom

jp71702
May 25, 2004, 11:18 PM
Hi thank you for your help. This is an old problem it started about 6 months ago, the water would flow fine it happened form one day to the next. After the plumber came out and tried to fix the problem and could not we remodeled restroom installing the new plumbing to the drain. Showers have there own drains and vents. The sinkand toiletdrains work fine so I would only tap the tub drain if possible as far as the over flow pipe I meant that we had the new tub pluming installed and we still had this problem.

speedball1
May 26, 2004, 05:29 AM
Good morning JP, I don't see much of a problem in tapping into your shower drain line. Code says you can "wet vent " a fixture using a 2 " drain line providing that it doesn't exceed 4 fixture units. Your tub is 3 fixture units soyou're going to be OK. If, along the way you find out why your present drain isn't draining please let me know . I'm still curious. Good luck, Tom

jp71702
May 26, 2004, 10:22 AM
Hey there it me again I found a plumber who fixed the drain today we opened the trap to see the snake going up not down we pulled out a ball of hair with paint chips maybe from the old tub thanks again for your help, PS do you know of any drain cleaner I should use to prevent this again?

speedball1
May 26, 2004, 10:48 AM
I am no fan of putting harsh chemicals in your system, especially if you're on a septic system. If your drain runs slow then pour 1/2 gallon of bleach down the drain at bed time. Next morning flush it ouit with several pans of boiling water. The main cause of clogs in a tub/shower or lavatory are grease matted up with hair. The bleach will nbegain to desolve the hair and make it slippery. The boiling water will heat the grease and flush everything out into the main. Glad you found you trouble. It didn't seem right to me that running a snake down the line wouldn't clear it. Good luck, Tom