Have a bad smell coming from shower drain. Seems to have gotten worse last couple months.


Water drains well and some water stays in drain as if the p-trap is working.


Tried cleaning drain with brush, baking soda, white vinegar, and very hot water... but did not help.


It is a custom built shower, though I did not see how it was done. It looks like a bottom pan was put in place with some type of marble sides.


Wondering if possibly drain connection is leaking under pan.
House is on a slab, so no easy way to get under pan that I know of.


Hoping someone here can shed some light on what might be wrong and my best options.


I'll include a picture of drain, which to me looks unusual. As if the pipe comes up and drain fits around it, instead of drain fitting into pipe... but I'm not familiar with such.
( it has a snap on chrome cover )

Appreciate any advice.

Not sure from your picture but there should be a top flange over the stub out. Can you see a rubber sleeve over the drain pipe? Last one I did had a compression flange on the pan that slid over the drain pipe. Looks like drain water would leak into the slab. Is there a name on the drain cover? At a minimum, I would silicone the open spots to seal things up better. You might want to pour some bleach around the open areas, let dry and then silicone. You may be able to remove what is there and start over. Oatey makes shower drain kits. Check at Home Depot for samples.

No name on cover. No signs or feel of any rubber.


All darker colored parts are metal.
What you are refering to and what looks like open slots, is also metal, and I think it is
actually part of the upper metal section.


The lighter color areas between the metal pieces seem to be some type of silicone.


The 2" PVC pipe does not have a clean cut and the right side is a little lower than the left side.


The 2" PVC pipe seems to go into a light grey colored pipe that seems to have a downward
bevel right near the water line.


Thanks for the reply.

Well, the second picture clears thing up a bit. The cover just sits down inside the 2" PVC stub. That looks like a brass pan connector. I hope they properly sealed under the large ring. I used to use plumbers putty but now only use silicone. Under the slotted area is a neoprene ring which should seal the drain. The slots, where the silicone is located, are there for a tool that tightens an inner ring down to compress the neoprene seal. Without the tool it is hard to tighten the ring. Check the video to see how it was, or should have been done. Another possibility is a plugged vent somewhere down the line. When water from the shower or toilet goes by, a plugged vent will cause a "burp" that allows sewer gas back into the house. Someone more advanced than I may come along and give you better info. Hope I was of help!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHRwNZnli6E

My 2 cents: It is very common for shower drains to smell. That happens because of "slime" accumulated on the walls of the drain - a.I. body oils, body hair, shampoo residue, dry dermis, etc. Basically, what it is is a biological matter rotting inside your drain. You will need to pour in some liquid that kills bacteria. Bleach can do, Lysol may do the same. There are number of other products on market available to deal with this problem. Do your research. Pour it in overnight, brush the walls of the drain with a brush dipped in bleach (or what ever product you select to use ), and repeat for several days in a row.

Hope that helps

Milo

Thank ma0641... that is surely helpful... and the video gives me an idea of how it is put together.

If it would be leaking from top seal, plumbers putty no longer working, that has nothing
to do with the neoprene ring seal, as they are different sections ?

The only thing I could possibly change or get to would be the neoprene ring seal,
as the top seal is attached to the pan, and tightened from under the pan, before the pan is put in place ?

Thanks Milo


Will look into your suggestions.


You mentioned " very common for shower drains to smell ."


What makes them different... are you're referring to both shower and bathtub drains in general ?