How to prepare for replacement shower drain

[flashbruce]

My shower was leaking through to the floor below. The drain was completely cracked off from the pipe, but I am puzzled by what I see. I've ordered a replacement drain from BruCo that can be installed from above and need to know what to do first. It would seem that I need to start with a clean pipe pointing up under the shower.

In the picture, I can see a groove which is perhaps where the pipe ends and the previous shower drain begins. It appears to be held tightly together at it. I couldn't twist it without being worried about breaking the pipe and connections below. Should I go after it with a hacksaw, a particular type of solvent or what? Thanks.

 

[Terry]

You drain is glued to the pipe. Twisting won't remove it.
Do you have access from below for that?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

If you don't have access from below, https://www.plumbingsupply.com/pipe-fitting-removal-tool.html might do it for significant $$. You may be able to sell the used tool later to get some of your money back. I would think about adding some kind of non-hardening goop to fill in imperfections.

I have no experience with that tool, or with the shower drain. http://brucoproduct.com/product-cat...-pull-tight-shower-drain-compression-pvc.html or other similar things.

 

[flashbruce]

I have no access from below without tearing up the ceiling underneath. And I've never repaired such a ceiling afterwards, so I don't know what would be involved. It's not a dropped ceiling or anything like that. It's a half-bath below.

I've seen some videos about removing things from pipes that suggest cutting a slot with a hacksaw or similar, being careful not to damage the pipe and then prying the rest off. I could try that though access is awkward.

 

[Jadnashua]

The part coming up in the middle is the drain pipe, the drain fits down over the pipe on the outside. I would be really hard to try to cut that off and peel it back from the outside and still have a piece of pipe you could use to install a new drain. Many of those also have a nut, washer, and gasket on the bottom to seal the drain to the pan, otherwise, things would just leak around the outer edges of the drain.

 

[flashbruce]

Yes, so perhaps the Pipe Pirana is the best idea. I really don't want to be involved with ceiling repair as well as shower repair.

 

[Jadnashua]

Most shower drains for that type of pan still need access from below. You probably don't have a choice since you won't be able to tighten and seal the drain to the pan from above. There are some drains that rely on a gasket between the pipe and the drain, but still, the rest of the drain body needs to be anchored to the pan (similar to how a sink drain attaches). All of those typically have the drain installed before setting the pan in place. Now, to get it to seal, you'll probably have to do it from below. What's shown is a fairly typical one...notice the nut on the bottom? That needs to be tightened down to anchor and seal the drain body to the pan. Can't do that from above.

Unless the ceiling has texture on it, repairing it is usually not a big deal. It's hard to replicate texture on a ceiling

patch, but possible if you're experienced.

 

[flashbruce]

I do think mine looked like that before getting mangled. I don't know about the threaded part. I'm hoping that maybe some patient work with the Pipe Pirana might still remove it, more or less. Then I'm hoping I can install the BruCo from above, perhaps optimistically.

 

[Jadnashua]

If you don't have a big 'whoops', and you're careful, that may work out for you. GOod luck, and let us know how it all works out. To make a good compression seal, the outside of the pipe needs to be almost like new - IOW, smooth with no gouges or scratches. Worst case, you buy an inside pipe cutter, cut the riser pipe off down low enough, add a coupling and enough new pipe to get it high enough to where you can then attach the new drain. An inside pipe cutter looks like a small circular saw blade on a shaft you chuck into your drill. In fact, depending on how long the riser is, it may just be cheaper and easier to just use the inside pipe cutter, and cut off the pipe with the drain attached rather than trying to cut the old drain off of the pipe.

 

[Pmaru77]

I use an "Inside pipe cutter" made by Brass Craft. It is bascally a cutter about 1.5" in diameter and has a shaft that you put on a drill chuck.
Stuff a rag down the drain so if the cutter comes off your drill, you are not screwed. You basically cut out the drain from inside the tube. It is kind of a pain, but I put tape on the shaft to where I want to cut based on the floor height or the flange height. That way I have a better chance to cut it more evenly, though it really does not need to be that even. I was off by about 1/8" when I went around. I've used it twice, and it works. There may be similar tools out there, too.

 

[flashbruce]

The pipe pirana arrived and seems to be off to a good start. I have to recharge the battery for my drill at this point. It took perhaps 15 minutes to get this far. After a bit, all that wider stuff from the earlier picture fell off.

My concerns at this point are whether the pipe is damaged beyond what I can see and whether the pipe will be high enough for the Bruco.

 

[Reach4]

Thanks for the update. Looks good so far.

 

[flashbruce]

I waited a few days before reporting back here to make sure that leaks didn't develop. So far, it's been just fine.

I spent a total of about 20 minutes with the Pipe Pirana. It really performed just as expected. I didn't have to cut through any metal, so I don't think I damaged it much and will try to sell it now as someone suggested here.

The whole job took about 30 minutes. The Bruco seems to work well, though the installation wasn't quite as easy as its installation video. At first it seemed too big for the shower, but the problem was those three little metal pieces along the edge. The rubber band that it comes with probably helped, but in the end I had to get down at eye level to see what was happening and maneuver each of the three metal pieces under the shower edge, twisting it after each so I could do the next one. Still, it didn't take too long.

It was a little more troubling that one of the "#2" screws that they suggest you "hand tighten" felt as if it has stripped its threads even though I wasn't turning the screwdriver all that firmly. So I continued and retightened that one gingerly a bit more until it felt snug and I thought it might strip-slip again if I turned any harder.

Then it was just a matter of turning the shower on and seeing what happened. What a relief!

Thanks, all, for the help and encouragement. This forum has been great!