Shower drain, plastic pipe with lead caulked joint

Posted by Tom E on July 13, 19100 at 14:17:42:
I happened to be re-caulking my shower and decided to "neaten up" the drain strainer, it never really sat correctly, and always had a small puddle around it. When I pulled up the strainer, I noticed the caulking around the drain was a little high and decided to poke at it. To my surprise, it was lead! It's a tiled shower, fiberglass pan, metal drain/strainer, plastic pipe going out and lead caulking between the drain body and plastic pipe. Is this an odd setup? I thought lead was only used with cast iron. Can I trim away some of the lead that is high (approx 1/8 inch) to make the drain "flow" better, and eliminate the puddle. Or is this a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Posted by Tom E on July 13, 19100 at 14:17:42:

I happened to be re-caulking my shower and decided to "neaten up" the drain strainer, it never really sat correctly, and always had a small puddle around it.
When I pulled up the strainer, I noticed the caulking around the drain was a little high and decided to poke at it. To my surprise, it was lead!
It's a tiled shower, fiberglass pan, metal drain/strainer, plastic pipe going out and lead caulking between the drain body and plastic pipe.
Is this an odd setup? I thought lead was only used with cast iron.
Can I trim away some of the lead that is high (approx 1/8 inch) to make the drain "flow" better, and eliminate the puddle.
Or is this a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

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