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    minnesota01r6's Avatar
    minnesota01r6 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Apr 3, 2006, 06:18 AM
    Basement drain convert to shower
    Hi all,

    I am trying to finish off our basement, and I would like to put a shower in place of a cast iron floor drain. I have 3 pictures of the drain as it is right now. I don't care if I use a fiberglass shower pan or if I make a tile shower pan. The floor is already sloped into the drain, but I am wondering if I must jackhammer the foundation and replace the drain, or if there is some other way to do it.

    Thanks a ton for any advice!
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
    		  
    #2

    Apr 3, 2006, 07:04 AM
    About the only way you can use the floor drain would be to platform the shower and drain it into the floor drain using a indirect waste.
    A much better way would be to take up the floor and install a "P" trap to plck up the shower. Be advised that since the floor drain isn't vented you will have to take a vent off just after the "P" trap. Good luck, Tom
    minnesota01r6's Avatar
    minnesota01r6 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #3

    Apr 3, 2006, 11:35 AM
    Could you please explain what "platforming the shower" and using an indirect waste are? (sorry, I'm not very good at this plumbing thing)

    Also, is the floor drain for sure not vented because there are vents for the rest of the plumbing very close to the drain - there are 3 ABS pipes that go into the foundation, but I guess they could all be drain pipes and not vent pipes

    Thanks
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
    		  
    #4

    Apr 3, 2006, 12:59 PM
    "Platforming" means raising the shower base high enough to have room to install a trap and drainage if the installer don't wish to break up cement. In your case it means positioning the shower drain directly over the floor drain and raising it high enough to leave a air gap between the shower drain and the lip of the floor drain. This is called a "indirect waste".
    A floor drain is unvented because code says it can be. If you platform the enclosure and discharge into the floor drain through a indirect waste you will not have to vent the shower. However, if you connect to the drainage system in any other way a vent will have to be installed just behind the trap and run up to the nearest dry vent. Regards, Tom
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