[filbert44]

Hi all,

I have a circa 1950's bathroom shower directly under which is a drum trap and a slow drain. In attempting to revive this antiquated line, I've tried various professional chemical and household drain openers as well as a drill powered auger and one of those cheap'o-rooter services to no avail.

The auger is apparently a no-go because of the immediate interaction with the drum trap under the shower stall. (it just curls and bumps around inside the drum).

I've asked a rooter service and three different plumbers about running a camera down the line but they all pretty much nixed on the idea, either because they didn't want to bother with a camera or didn't think it would be helpful. Two of them suggested continual chemical openers and the others simply told me to have the trap cut out and replaced with a contemporary P-trap.

I'm hoping that there is some kind of solution that doesn't involve a lot of demolition. To remove the trap would involve either tearing out the stall floor (upstairs) or removing a series of cabinets from my kitchen to access the trap from below (kitchen is downstairs).

And... what if, after all of this, the drain pipes and the vent through the roof all have to be redone? Argh.

Would this problem be beyond the scope of a good plumber? Would I need a contractor at this point?


Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks.

[greekguy7]

Is the drum trap cover accessible?

I wonder if a kinetic water ram might help?

[filbert44]

Well, it was my understanding that the shower drain opening in this case was the opening to the drum itself. That is,. I can look directly down into the drain opening and see the bottom of the trap. Hopefully that makes sense.

[massplumber2008]

Hi Filbert...

A drum trap cannot make a direct connection to a shower... not even in the 50's... ;) I have seen some rigged plumbing jobs that dumped/direct connected into a drumtrap, but was very special ccircumstances... not regular bathroom stuff.

It sounds like you have a ptrap in place and if that is the case, you will find that snaking the drain is difficult but not impossible. Here, you use the typical electric snake, but when you hit the bottom of the trap you keep the unit spinning while pushing onto the snake pretty aggressively... should eventually persude around the U shaped part of the trap... after that it shouldn't take much distance to clear the blockage out.

A kinetic ram, as suggested by greekguy7, can be useful here but I usually reserve this for newer plumbing just in case you have some lead piping under that shower... maybe?

A good plumber should be able to do this easily... ;)

Let me know if you want to discuss more... OK?

Mark

[speedball1]

I can look directly down into the drain opening and see the bottom of the trap. Hopefully that makes sense.

Makes sense to me. Mark nailed it. You have a "P" trap that can be snaked.
Where did you get the impression that you had a drum trap?(see image)?

[filbert44]

As this shower has been out of commission long enough for the water in the drain to evaporate, I've noticed that when I remove the grill/hair trap over the drain, I can see what looks to be a FLAT rusty surface that is wider than the drain opening. In other words, when the drain is dry, the line goes for roughly twelve inches down and ends at a flat surface. People that I've spoken with have told me that this was a drum trap and I thought the same because I've got another one (now bypassed) in the bathroom downstairs. It is possible that I simply don't know what I'm looking at (other than a barrier of rust/sediment) or that I'm referring to another kind of trap altogether.

Is there a way to be sure if what I have is actually closer to speedball1's image?
(thanks for the image)
Thanks.