My senior parents are about to remodel their master bath. Looking at replacing corner tub with custom walk in shower. When designing the shower, does the drain have to be in center of shower or can it somehow be kept where it is. Concrete foundation, probably tile shower. Parents are reluctant to dig into foundation, but information I've gotten says they may have no choice. Have gotten conflicting answers so far from other 'professionals'. :-)

That's almost a rick question. If you built your own shower pan and put the drain off set in the shower to catch the old drain that would work. You need to slope the shower bottom when you mud it in. If the shower was built up close to the drain the 2" pvc shower drain cloud be sloped to catch the off set distance to the existing drain line.If you could be more clear on

[U]does the drain have to be in center of shower or can it somehow be kept where it is[/U]Knowing the complete distances would help in detail of offset reallocation to amounts

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There will have to be some concrete broken out because the tub drain does not work like the drain for the shower. The tub drain is
1 1/2 inch that goes into a 2 inch drain. The shower drain has to be a 2 inch all the way.

Also on the tub the drain is about 2 inches from the wall to the center of the drain, (the drain that you see in the tub is actually not where the drain in the floor is).

The shower drain does not have to be in the center of the shower if you are putting a tile floor in, it could be closer to one end. Also since this is for older people I would put very little slope on the floor, jist enough that the water will work it's way to the drain.

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Denisep:

As stated above, a shower drain should be 2" and a tub drain is usually only 1.5". You could simply increase the 1.5" pipe to 2" and the drain can be located anywhere you like, however, best result will be in increasing shower drain pipe to 2" all the way back to the main drain line.

Swanstone makes a PREFABRICATED shower floor that replaces a tubs footprint almost exactly... see picture. I think the pan is a 32"x60" shower pan and you should only need to increase the tub drain to 2"., install a 2" ptrap and a shower strainer (1st pic. Of a strainer) assembly and will make a very nice custom shower.

http://www.swanstone.com/index.php?cat=4&attr=78

You should also plan on setting a prefabricated shower pan in a bed of structolite or a bed of mortar (read manufacturer's instructions, of course). This will add to stability, reduce squeeks and assist in strainer not losing seal to the drain pipe. Let us know if need more info. On this.

If going with a custom shower pan, then all still holds, can either increase pipe size, run new 2" pipe and trap and install a custom pan with drain located wherever you like... best results will be with centering of drain (see custom shower pan drain at far right below), if you ask me... ;)

Check out this link for info. On custom showers and how they get built:

How to Build a Shower Pan

Let us know if you have questions...

MARK

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There are pre made fiberglass shower bases which are the same size as a standard bathtub with the drain in the same place. Some if the better ones I have seen at shows are moce by AKW MediCare. If your parents are looking for the more custom look of a tile shower the drain can also remain the same place however it would be best to relocate it to the center. You are doing the bathroom anyway do why not move the drain to the best location which is the center. The biggest problem with having the drain at one end of the shower stall is that to get proper water drain pitch you will wind up with the tile at the other end of the shower being higher which will cause you to have an angled base line of tile and it will be noticeable to the eye. When you move it to the center you can have a nice level starting course of tile and it is the right way to do the job.