Hello, I've looked at all the other leaky shower drain posts which all seem to be pvc piping. What a great service this is! This is a second story shower with hard wood underneath so I can't see the pipes. A local plumber showed me this after he cut a hole in my ceiling and charged me $50 and told me he couldn't do anything further. This doesn't seem right. What do you think? Do I have any recourse?

I'm guessing the Plumbrite drain is not a good solution for me since I have a metal throat and pipe. The surrounding basin is fiberglass with tiled walls. I have inspected all the grout and caulking which look great. When looking at the drainpipe there is always water sitting right up to the top of the drainpipe. Is this normal? I used a plunger on it and all this black gunk spewed out. Thank you! Here is a picture:

http://www.craigslist.org/eby/hsh/58137140.html

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Originally Posted by Golf Guy

Hello, I've looked at all the other leaky shower drain posts which all seem to be pvc piping. What a great service this is! This is a second story shower with hard wood underneath so I can't see the pipes. A local plumber showed me this after he cut a hole in my ceiling and charged me $50 and told me he couldn't do anything further. This doesn't seem right. What do you think? Do I have any recourse?

I'm guessing the Plumbrite drain is not a good solution for me since I have a metal throat and pipe. The surrounding basin is fiberglass with tiled walls. I have inspected all the grout and caulking which look great. When looking at the drainpipe there is always water sitting right up to the top of the drainpipe. Is this normal? I used a plunger on it and all this black gunk spewed out. Thank you! Here is a picture:

http://www.craigslist.org/eby/hsh/58137140.html

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The first thing you have to do is to clear out the standing water in your shower drain line. The plumber ripped you. The very least he could have done is snake out the hair and grease the has clogged your line. I would call his company and complain about a sending me a plumber that was so incompetent that even after tearing up my ceiling he still couldn't locate a simple leak. To compound his incompetence he left you with a blocked drain even though he could see that the water was backed up to the top of the drain. And for all this plus tearing up your ceiling you got socked fifty dollars and the last out rage is when he told you he could go no further. That, in itself, is admitting he didn't have enough plumbing experience to be sent out on a call without a experienced plumber. Stories like these make me see red. I can walk you through locating the leak if the ceiling is still open , but first I want to hear what the company that hired this incompetent has to say. Regards and we all aren't like that! Tom

Thanks for confirming what I figured was true. I should not have let this guy in when I first noticed his attire. Since when do plumbers show up to the job wearing full length black leather coats and diamond stud earrings anyway? My wife and I bought this house five months ago and it is still under home warranty. The home warranty company acts like a dispatch for a pool of contractors and charges $50 to open every work order. We've been complaining to the company since December 30th when the work took place. We have been unsuccessful in getting a manager to return our calls. As far as the pipes, I can't see them because while the drywall ceiling has been cut open, all I can see now is water stained wood subflooring and joists. From what I can tell, some other related work was done already because a section of the wood was cut out where the leak is, was replaced, and then reinforced with two short pieces of 2x4. It's a pity the job wasn't done right the first time. After I snake out the drain like you said, what's next? Thank you Tom! -- Guy B.

"After I snake out the drain like you said, what's next?"
Are you planing on doing the job yourself? If so the next move would be to bare the pipes, dry them off, run the shower and pin-point the source of the leak. Tell you a little secret. Since most shower leaks are caused by the grout shrinking where the stream hits the tile, and the water running down outside the shower pan, I'm not even convinced you'll locate the leak in the pipes. The one thing I am convinced of is that if you went to a lawyer, and told him what you told me, he would tell you that you had a case against the man they sent out or the company that sent him.
A full length black leather coat and diamond stud earrings? Now you know where he got the money to pay for those classy togs. From victims like you, that's who. Hang in there and keep me in the loop. Tom