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    Malti777's Avatar
    Malti777 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Jul 20, 2010, 11:39 AM
    How can we get our shower to drain properly?
    We just took out an old tub and put in a walk in shower. When we turn the shower on it just fills with water and drains very slowly. We brought the garden hose in from outside and stuck it down about 1 inch into the drain, wrapped a wet cloth around it to seal it and blasted it. The water ran through without pooling up. Obviously, there's no clog. Why is our brand new drain not draining properly? The surface water catcher in the shower connects to a flexible hose which forms a p-trap before it enters the main outlet. We used a European drain with European connections and hooked it onto the already existent American plumbing. ( the only significant difference is that the European pipe is plastic and semi-rigid and flexible (looks a bit like a dryer hose, but plastic).

    We are so frustrated because we've done the work ourselves with the exception of the tiling, and if we have to redo the plumbing, we'll have to tear out some of the tiling to get to it.

    Thank you for any help you can offer.
    massplumber2008's Avatar
    massplumber2008 Posts: 12,832, Reputation: 1212
    Senior Plumbing Expert
    		  
    #2

    Jul 20, 2010, 11:46 AM

    HiMalti... just because the water drains when you force the water down the drain with a hose and a rag doesn't mean the drain isn't clogged by some old stuff in the old drain line. Remember, shower water drains by gravity... so anything in the drain line would seriously slow drainage.

    I'd start by filling the shower with water and then use a plunger... see if that helps. If that fails, you may need to use a snake to clear the drain line.

    If these things fail then I have to start wondering things like how you vented the new shower... or was the vent on the old tub piping?

    What size pipe did you connect onto?

    Let me know more...

    Mark
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