Odd Shower Drain Rough In

[kweisen]

Hi Everyone,

Appreciate you taking the time to read my question! I recently purchased a house and set about converting a basement bathroom, which previously had a cast iron claw foot tub, into a walk in shower . The previous tub had a drain that was just shoved into the rough opening and not sealed properly. Think of the rough drain being a female fitting and then they used just a smaller diameter pipe for a male type fitting.

The images show the roughed in drain im trying to use for a walk in shower drain. Since I am new at the shower pan game I purchased a "goof proof" shower system (please don't laugh) and this is when I realized a standard shower drain does not fit around the pipe and that there should also not be concrete poured around the pipe. It appears there is definitely a p-trap so I have that going for me but I am stuck with what type of system to use for the drain.... http://imgur.com/a/IZ9jr

 

[Cacher_Chick]

On a job like this it is normal to have to dig out the trap, cut it off, and then reposition everything to fit the dimensions and type of shower pan that is going to be used. If it is close to right, sometimes it is only a matter of cutting the riser to length and using a pair of 1/8th or 1/16th bends to center the drain.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[kweisen]

Thanks for the response Cacher_chick! I am pouring my own pan so the drain doesn't have to be moved at all, it just needs an actual drain attached to it. Are you saying I would need to dig out the tube, cut it, attach the proper width tube, and then attach the drain?

 

[Jadnashua]

You'd need to chip out enough concrete around the pipe so that you could glue on a shower drain. If you were going to go with a premade pan, some of those would need the pipe to stick up as they then use a gasket around the pipe to make the seal which won't work with it that low. If you decide to use one of those, you'd need to chip out more concrete so you could then cut it low enough to add a coupler, then a riser. Make sure that there's a good p-trap underneath, and that it's properly vented (should be within 5' with a 2" pipe).

When doing a tiled shower, depending on the drain you choose, you might be close on the existing height of the pipe for the ultimate drain height. FWIW, my preference is to build any shower with a surface applied membrane rather than the 'conventional' liner. IMHO, it produces a better shower that dries out much quicker and has fewer long-term issues. It's not that a conventional built shower is bad, there's millions of them, but I think the newer materials work better and produce a better product (and, with some of them having been around for nearly 30-years, they are NOT new tech!).

 

[kweisen]

Thanks for the response Jadnashua! I have already purchased this drain as its adjustable and what most people seem to recommend. So next steps for me would be to chisel out the concrete around the pipe, cut it to lower it slightly, fit the drain and then continue with the pan correct? For the pan I am using a pre-pitch pour, then a vinyl liner, and another level of slopped mud, finally followed by actually tiling the shower. Does this all sound correct for next steps? Especially with the drain since that's the uncertain part?

The drain also (as you can sort of see from the pictures) is rather thick and not perfectly round. Should I just file it down slightly to make the drain fit over it?

 

[Jadnashua]

Yes. Over a slab, you can have your preslope fairly thin at the drain if you bond it properly (use a slurry of Portland cement or thinset before installing the mudbed to bond it to the surface). There are lots of ways to mess up a shower. I suggest you check out www.johnbridge.com for some help. While building a shower is not all that hard, it is VERY detail oriented , and messing up one issue can doom a shower for failure. While the conventional shower construction technique works fine, I prefer a surface applied membrane for various benefits. Note, it's really tough to push the pipe into the socket of the drain until there's cement in there, which literally melts the plastic, making room for it to fit properly. It doesn't hurt to put a small champher on the outer edge of the pipe, but it should fit into the socket of the drain once you add the cement.

 

[volleyballman]

I had a question about shower drains...In the house we are building, we have a long shower with only 1 shower head at one end and a towel off area at the other. The drain seems to be very far away from the shower head and although it is pitched, water still pools in the area directly under the shower head. The tile installers say that the drain is too far from the shower head and that is the problem, not the pitch of the floor. The plumber says that it doesn't matter how far the shower head is away if the floor is pitched correctly. Which one is correct? thanks for your input!

 

[Cacher_Chick]

No matter the size or shape of the shower, the pan must be properly sloped to ensure all water flows to the drain. The watertight integrity and slope should be tested and verified before any tile is installed.

 

[Jadnashua]

You cannot change the laws of nature...water flows downhill - you can't cheat gravity. If it pools, that area is not pitched properly. Code calls for a MINIMUM of 1/4"/foot drop towards the drain. IF there are any flat areas or depressions along the way, the water can pool. Now, if you have something like a pebble floor, all competent shower installers would increase the slope so water wouldn't get trapped by the irregular shape and heights of the pebbles. Many showers these days have a linear drain at one end of the shower, so water must flow the entire length of it...the guy is blowing smoke.

Take a straight edge and measure. The problem should become obvious.