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magarechu · Jun 17, 2008, 02:57 PM

We recently moved into a house that the basement shower drain pipe is detached from the drain hole by about an inch and also slightly off center. We have gotten several plumbers to look at it and they want to rip up the entire shower to reconnect it.

The shower has been like this for at least several years (according to the neighbors) and looking down with a flashlight you can see rocks and hair from past showers. There is no water build-up or strange smells coming from the opening. Just a smell of earth. Water may just have been draining into the ground though I am not positive.

I'm wondering if I can cut through the shower basin around the drain, basically making the hole bigger so I can add some sort of coupling from the pipe to the drain. I would then just buy some sort of bigger drain cover or something.

The basement shower is a neo-angle shower with a fiberglass basin and metal and glass walls/door.
Does this sound possible? Or is their some other quick-fix solution?

Thanks,
Margaret

massplumber2008 · Jun 17, 2008, 03:01 PM

About the only thing I can think of here would be to call a FIBERGLASS repair company and present what you want to do to them... see if maybe they can make a new floor for you.

Otherwise, I just don't see how this can be done at all!!

Good luck... MARK

ballengerb1 · Jun 17, 2008, 03:17 PM

I think you have what is called an indirect drain and if so I'd leave it alone. An indirect drain can sometimes be used to make a floor drain into a shower drain. The floor drain is trapped already so the shower water can gravity fall into the floor drain with no problems. So if you can fish a small snake down that drain line. If you can push a 1/4" snake more than 2' I'd leave it alone. I do not recommend that you enlarge your fiber glass drain opening.

massplumber2008 · Jun 17, 2008, 03:25 PM

You know Ballengerb1 raises a really good point here!

As amazingly wrong as it seems to me... some people will do this... so maybe it is just an indirect drain.

If you remove the strainer... what do you see when looking in hole.. Water/strainer cover?

Post a pic. If you can... thanks.

ballengerb1 · Jun 17, 2008, 03:27 PM

This was once allowed by code but I think its long gone. I got one and no problems for 48 years.

massplumber2008 · Jun 17, 2008, 03:31 PM

You got one... but I bet it isn't set up with a plastic NEO ANGLE shower drain set over it... huh? ;)

Just sounds so wrong here.

Hopefully Margaret will post back. Have great day Bob.

ballengerb1 · Jun 17, 2008, 03:34 PM

Got one and it was under a 30X30 fiberglass square shower for 38 years. Now its under a Swanston 3260L retro.

magarechu · Jun 17, 2008, 04:39 PM

I love the discussion! Thank you!
I am unfortunately not tech savvy enough to download a photo but try and imagine this:

The pipe looks normal enough... white. Same size as drain hole.
Looking down the pipe it curves very sharply to the side and out of site. I see no trap, just swoops off dramatically.
The pipe is sticking out of the gravel/stones/cement(?) and is very much "fixed" in place. Cannot move at all. There is about three inches to the "ground" from the drain.

This pipe is exactly one inch from the drain in the bottom of the shower and off center by about 1/2 inch.

The drain hole and pipe are 2" diameter.

Thank you again!
Margaret

ballengerb1 · Jun 17, 2008, 06:23 PM

That sounds like a 90 elbow or maybe a 45 elbow, both a bit unusual froma shower drain but not unheard of. If you get no sewer gas odor out of the drain chances are its trapped. I would not worry about this drain but the you did say "drain pipe is detached from the drain hole by about an inch " If you mean the verticle pipe immediately below the shower floor is disconnected then there is an issue. If this is what you have write back or just tell us more. That first plumber might be right.

magarechu · Jun 17, 2008, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

That sounds like a 90 elbow or maybe a 45 elbow, both a bit unusual froma shower drain but not unheard of. If you get no sewer gas odor out of the drain chances are its trapped. I would not worry about this drain but the you did say "drain pipe is detached from the drain hole by about an inch " If you mean the verticle pipe immediately below the shower floor is disconnected then there is an issue. If this is what you have write back or just tell us more. That first plumber might be right.

Yes, I do mean the vertical pipe immediately below the shower floor. And yes, it is detached or at least a clean break. A neighbor thinks it may have been dislodged when they did a rotor rooter. There is no sewer gas.

**sigh** This is going to be pricey isn't it...

ballengerb1 · Jun 17, 2008, 07:11 PM

Yes Margaret, it does sound like a cash register in the background. Is the pipe white PVC? Unless we can figure some way to patch this pipe you are in for a major job. This sits on a concrete floor and there just is no quick fix or easy way to get at that drain. I sure wish it was possible to get a picture. Maybe some of us could walk you through that process, are you game?

westnlas · Jun 17, 2008, 07:19 PM

You could glass the hole in the existing pan in and drill a new hole in the right location. But to do it right, you probably should pull up the pan. We used to hand lay fiberglass on styrofoam forms to make surfboards. It's really a simple process, you mix the resin with an activating catalyst and brush it over a fiberglass batting material. Sand and apply another layered coat. It might even be a fun project. But the discussion sounds like you might be much better off leaving this one as is. I am from Southern California and Nevada and had no idea things were piped in this manner. And I spent my entire life except for my military building houses. Go figure.

ballengerb1 · Jun 17, 2008, 07:24 PM

Unless this is a Swanstone shower pan you have to reach under the pan to tighten a PVC nut on the drain. Under the pan isn't going to come too easy for Margaret.

magarechu · Jun 17, 2008, 07:28 PM

OK.. I borrowed a friends camera and have the photo on my computer now. We can't figure out how to get it on this website. I have a mac.

magarechu · Jun 17, 2008, 07:29 PM

And no... sorry, the pipe is actually a metal or concrete feeling thing. Not a PVC.

magarechu · Jun 17, 2008, 07:45 PM

Got a photo all by myself!

massplumber2008 · Jun 18, 2008, 03:23 AM

Thank you Margaret:

Just need you to confirm that when you look down that hole you see water INSIDE the pipe.

Also confirm that there is some flexibility in the shower floor when you walk into the shower.. yes?

Lastly, if you stick a broom stick into the GALVANIZED drain pipe... can you move the shower drain pipe?

[B]Margaret... that pipe and the shower base were never set correctly to begin with... that is why you can't just repair this. That drain should have been leaded in better and should never have moved. ROTO ROOTER guy had nothing to do with moving this pipe.. if it's solid!

I gotta tell you that if this were me I would rip it out and install a new neoangle shower. Be sure that it will be set in a mortar bed or similar so shower base will feel like stone floor when done and to be sure this can never happen again!!

Let us know what you think...

Mark

magarechu · Jun 18, 2008, 06:10 AM

Thank you for sticking with me Mark!

No water looking down the pipe. It curves off at probably a 45 degree angle after about 8 inches of pipe.

Yes, there is some flexibility in the shower floor but the quality of the basin is good and strong... not flimsy or anything.

I can move the pipe just a tiny little bit back and forth but not much at all with a broom handle. It seems very fixed in place.

And what I'm thinking... I think you are probably right. I was afraid I would have to rip it all out but I wanted to exhaust all my options first as you can imagine. I appreciate everything everyone has contributed! At least now I have some good knowledge about the issue and can at least feel good about that. Ignorance on a major plumbing problem that will cost a lot of money is NOT bliss!
Thank you thank you!

Sincerely, Margaret

westnlas · Jun 18, 2008, 10:28 AM

Margaret, I got to agree with "Mass". If you go to the trouble of tearing it all out and putting it back correctly, you save a lot of headaches down the road. This job will only be needed to do one time and it's good forever. A thought might be to use a rubber liner and tile the new shower, getting rid of the fiberglass pan. You need to build a curb and slope the floor to the drain, but that's not hard to do. This would add to your home's value a bit I think. And the cost isn't prohibitive.

Bandit

ballengerb1 · Jun 18, 2008, 12:41 PM

Margaret, one picture is worth a thousand words and in your case probably a thousand dollars. It is exactly what I was hoping to NOT see. This is a real shame but I think the shower must come out. Westnlas might have made a scratch built shower pan sound more simply than it really is. I would never recommend a first time to try to build a pan. Try one of these fiberglass pans from Swanstone. Swanstone Shower Walls & Floors Compare buying one with building your own pan and then you decide. How to Build a Shower Pan Who knows, you might be able to remove the existing stall and reuse all or most of it. If the person who did you drain also did the shower pan installation its probably ready to pop off by itself. Good luck , Bob