Basement Floor Drain as Shower Drain?

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bvawd

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Floor Drain.jpg


I am in the process of planning out a small basement bathroom. I have an existing floor drain that is only 12" from the main stack and is already in a good location for the shower drain. Will the main stack serve as a vent being so close to the drain? Can I use the floor drain for the shower drain?
 
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Will the main stack serve as a vent being so close to the drain?
Yes.

Can I use the floor drain for the shower drain?
If it's trapped, sure.

The other concern is your ceiling height, I don't know how raised your showerpan will be.

Also, take care not to crowd your soil stack in the event you need to clean it out (which is done by cutting away all that black abs that's been put into where the cleanout used to be).
 

Cacher_Chick

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Maybe you would get away with that in Canada, but it would not be permitted in the U.S.

Here, you are not allowed to wet vent between floors. This means that the shower drain vent can tie into the stack, but only up at least 6" higher than the flood rim of the highest fixture served by the stack.

As for the drain, you have to consider how the shower's drain will connect to the existing piping. The finished height of the shower drain will be determined by what you are using for a shower pan. A traditional shower pan requires a clamping drain which must be installed to meet the height of the liner and deck. A composite pan commonly has the drain slightly recessed in the floor, whereas the riser must be the exact length required of that particular pan and drain combination.

There are a lot of ways to build a really bad shower. It's up to you how good or bad to make yours.
 

Jadnashua

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It's really difficult to create the required slope of a shower floor with the drain located where your outline shows. All that is required is a minimum of 1/4"/foot from the edge to the drain, but most people like the perimeter to be level all the way around. With your drain at that location, I'd guess the distance from the furthest corner to the drain is about 4', so a minimum of 1" drop. Now, if your perimeter is level, that's an inch of drop from the short wall to the drain near the stack...way too steep. Cutting each tile on an angle to account for an unlevel perimeter is a pain, and often doesn't look very good.

Now, the other thing is, you need the proper drain body, and to install one of those, you need to chop up some of the floor anyways. There are two general types of drains, a clamping drain used with a conventional liner, or a bonded membrane flange or use with a surface applied membrane (like Kerdi or Noble, or several other membranes).

Take the time to chop up the floor, and move the drain to the approximate center of the proposed shower. An alternative would be to use a linear drain and a single slope, but be prepared for sticker shock when you price one!
 
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bvawd

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Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. I'll get out the sledgehammer and get to work!
 
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