We have a 25 year old two-story home. The stall shower on the second floor has been leaking onto the downstairs ceiling for about one year. My husband caulked the drain, etc. but it still leaks. Recently, he put his finger on the ceiling where the leak is and his finger went right through the ceiling. He has now decided to fix the leak.

The problem: The shower stall is a fiber glass base and tile walls. He removed the drain cover and tried to unscrew the metal drain. The drain (not the pipe) would not unscrew so he tried to get to it from underneath (through the ceiling). It seems that the flange will not unscrew. Help. Please! My husband is very handy and fairly knowledgeable on home repair. If you need a picture, he can email you one. Thank you so much.


Barbara

Welcome again Barbara,

If you will look on the under side of the drain you will see a large retaining nut securing the drain to the base. Squirt some WD-40 on it and try to unscrew it. If it won't budge then take a sharp chisel and cut the nut and peel it off. Depending on how the drain's secured to the trap raiser you may have to cut the raiser to remove the drain entirely. After you get the drain removed give me more details about the material the trap and raiser's made of and I'll help with replacing the new drain. Regards, tom

Hi Tom,

Thank you for your reply. The WD40 was used but the flange wouldn't budge. I have taken about five pictures with my digital camera and wondered if you could take a look before we go further. Should I attach the pictures or send them privately. Please advise. Thank you.

Pommi

You may attach the pictures in this thread.(Better) However, If the pictures consume too much space send them to [email protected] and mark them PLUMBING so they won''t end up in junk mail. Cheers, Tom

Hi Tom,

I sent the pictures via email as my husband put them in a zip file and I wasn't sure how to post them. I know everyone likes to see visuals so that we all learn together. I can post them individually if you believe they would help others. Thanks.

Barbara

Hi Barbara,

Not the drain I thought it was. If those are screws Isee in Fig#001 then they're holding a retaining ring. Unscrew or drill them out, Tom

Hi Again,

My husband said that in Pic 001, they are not screws. He believes the retaining ring might be snapped in. He is going to try to cut it off.
This is a real "head scratcher".