I am completely redoing my master bath due to dating/leaks in the shower wall area. Currently the bathroom is down to the studs and I am slowly working through my issues. One that I have come across is my shower pan and how I go about redoing it. My shower was tile - floor included. I have torn it all up and found that they dug into the slab (about 3") to create the shower pan. I am told by a local plumber this is common in my area. Anyway, where my dilema is is in the drain. It is obvious that whatever method I choose to reinstall the pan (tile or one piece pan), I need to do something about the drain. A plumber told me that what he would do is jack up the slab around the drain, replace it and the p-trap with an adjustable drain, then fill the slab back in. I am working on getting some other quotes but just was curious what anyone else's thoughts were on this. The drain is a pvc drain. I was trying to post some links to pictures but my Yahoo pictures is acting up right now. If I can get them posted I will.

Thanks.

Hopes this makes sense.

Does your shower flange look like it has two flanges? Did you have a plastic shower pan in before? Manufactured or custom folded shower pan?

"I have torn it all up and found that they dug into the slab (about 3") to create the shower pan. I am told by a local plumber this is common in my area."
We call that a shower dap out in my area.
Can you remove the old drain leaving the trap raiser? Regards, Tom

Does your shower flange look like it has two flanges? Did you have a plastic shower pan in before? Manufactured or custom folded shower pan?

"I have torn it all up and found that they dug into the slab (about 3") to create the shower pan. I am told by a local plumber this is common in my area."
We call that a shower dap out in my area.
Can you remove the old drain leaving the trap raiser? Regards, Tom


I am attaching pictures. It appears to have a flange and the drain is an insert. I suspect that is a good thing. There was no pan per say. It was tile/mortar laid directly on top of the "shower dap" I am unsure about removing the shower drain but based on your first question I guess that is possible? I suspect I will have to pry/break it out?

Thanks for the help.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-12/1235249/IMG_0884.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-12/1235249/IMG_0889.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-12/1235249/IMG_0890.JPG

If the drain lip is setting on cementthen there wasn't a shower pan installed.
It looks like the strainer is off the drain which appears to be one piece. Ifthat's so I would leave the old drain and tile the floor. Any other installation would involve removing the old drain, and perhaps the trap, and running the trap raiser up so a flange type shower drain,(see image) and either a custom or a manufactured shower pan can be installed. Regards, tom

Tom, for some reason I am not getting email notifications anymore. May need to check my spam folder. Anyway. I have thought some about this and have been leaning towards a custom or manufactured composite marble pan. Reason is I am using 12x12 marble tile on the walls and I don't want to do a mosaic type tile. I think I can handle digging up and replacing the drain. I haven't found much good info on setting the pan though. Do you just lay down sand and set it in the sand or is there another process to set the pan?
thanks

It looks like you have a drain that's already glued in. That's forcing you to work with vthe old drain unless you want to bust out cement, saw it out and replace it. Since you already have a mortar base installed why not tile over it. You can chip out enough mortar from around the drain to slope the tile down to meet the drain if need be. Good luck, Tom

I cut out that flange and was then unable to unscrew it. Now I have a threaded pipe

Actually I meant I was ABLE to unscrew it. So now I have a 2" threaded pipe. I looked at Lowe's and they have the replacement but I don't know if it will be high enough for tile or a pan.