TorontoTim
Member
Finally got my drain connected, and low and behold, I have the tiniest of leaks around my shower drain housing. It sits in a bead of caulking, and is tightened to the shower pan with a large threaded 'nut' that then presses on a fibre washer and thin foam gasket from below (which doesn't serve any sealing purpose - just holds the drain tight against the shower pan.
Must be a tiny pinhole somehow through the caulking. After a 20 minute shower there is maybe a tablespoon or two of water collected in a catch pan.
So I need to loosen off this nut, which we originally tightened up while the shower pan was still not installed. It is now accessible only through the ceiling, and too tight a space for a large pipe wrench.
The 'nut' is a good 4-5 inches across. Is there something like a really big basin wrench I can use to get up in here? It's spaced between two 16 oc joists, so about 14" total clearence in the area. A little closer to one joist than the other. And it's up in the area of the 3/4 plywood, so something like a basin wrench seems my only hope.
Need to drop the nut off, cut the horizontal drain pipe after the P trap, pull the drain/P up, clean out the old caulking and re-do the drain housing into the pan.
Here's a pic of what I'm up against. Access is through a currently small access hole in the ceiling, which I'll open up a bit for more leverage. Shouldn't need to be terribly tight - just enough to keep it snug. The caulking does the sealing. Would plumbers putty be a better choice? Kohler's instructions call for caulk. Drain is K-9132 if anyone's interested.
Must be a tiny pinhole somehow through the caulking. After a 20 minute shower there is maybe a tablespoon or two of water collected in a catch pan.
So I need to loosen off this nut, which we originally tightened up while the shower pan was still not installed. It is now accessible only through the ceiling, and too tight a space for a large pipe wrench.
The 'nut' is a good 4-5 inches across. Is there something like a really big basin wrench I can use to get up in here? It's spaced between two 16 oc joists, so about 14" total clearence in the area. A little closer to one joist than the other. And it's up in the area of the 3/4 plywood, so something like a basin wrench seems my only hope.
Need to drop the nut off, cut the horizontal drain pipe after the P trap, pull the drain/P up, clean out the old caulking and re-do the drain housing into the pan.
Here's a pic of what I'm up against. Access is through a currently small access hole in the ceiling, which I'll open up a bit for more leverage. Shouldn't need to be terribly tight - just enough to keep it snug. The caulking does the sealing. Would plumbers putty be a better choice? Kohler's instructions call for caulk. Drain is K-9132 if anyone's interested.