Fernco Hack- Suggestions and for that morning leak

[purduephotog]

Forgive the title, for I hath been fighting a wet wall, a screaming 2 year old, an incompetent previous owner's repair, and a FLIR camera that wouldn't load. (Actual question below in bold)

That said- I awoke to the sound of a 2 year old chanting "What's That" over and over, which turned out to be rain leaking in the windows. Unfortunately, it wasn't raining and the wife was showering. Undaunted, I pulled out the trusty FLIR and saw (1225). A big fat hot spot next to an otherwise unassuming wall.

Not knowing the damage or how long/far (I have thus assumed it was a leaking gasket around the drain), I opened the wall to dry it. I discovered not one, but TWO non-shielded Fernco gaskets. It was as if the individual previously just decided to cut out huge chunks of pipe and put them back with the easiest thing at hand.

This also appears to be my sewer stack, so I'm REALLY not looking forward to opening this. The shower drain pops through a convoluted 180 straight into the stack, and the fiberglass floor pan does NOT appear to have any support up and around the hole they cut (Because, why not? everything else in this place is wrong).

I know the right thing to do. Really. Take out the fernco, buy a 3" saver bit, drill out the old PVC pipe, attach new. Properly support. Rip out the shower, correctly support the bottom pan, put in new shower (while fixing toilet and updating decor). So I'm not looking for 'illegal' shortcuts here.

What I am looking for is suggestions as to how to defer the repairs until I can not be on the road for a week OR figure out how to fix both bathrooms (Very tiny and awkward). Thus... since I now have access (limited) to the bottom of the shower fiberglass pan, should I go for the gasket and offset drain (Assuming I can find)? Is it possible to support or provide expansion foam into the bottom of the fiberglass area to carry some of the load as well? (Heck, it can LIFT concrete, is water proof, and sticks to everything)?

I'm just flabbergasted at all the shortcut this guy took. I want to fix it right, however gotta earn that money first. (Yes I find it ironic I am using a high res FLIR camera to locate leaks)

More photos when I can get them off the phone.

 

[Reach4]

How about a photo of the leak area?

The non-shielded rubber is not necessarily the sin that you think it is. Do you have reason to believe that is related to your leak? Could it be that the problem is rusted out iron or steel?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

Your "solution" sounds very complicated compared to the problem you describe. The two rubber Ferncos should not be the problem.

 

[purduephotog]

Actually, I doubt the ferncos are the problem. I was more irritated to see them there, unsupported, unsloped properly. With 3 toilets in line with them I'm betting they hold quite a bit and don't fully drain.

No, the indication of the leak is the soap scum on the bottom of the pipe that curls around. I wasn't able to get the photo off and I'm searching for my UV flashlight, but the water appears to drip down the PVC loop (the 180 degree hand made P trap). So simply put, I could just replace the ring, putty, and offset drain if that's all that is bad.

I'm worried about the floor being unsupported now, hence the question about cushioning it with expansion foam.

And of course I really don't like the idea of undrained sewage sitting in the pipes, resting in those rubber sleeves. I'll have to see how much space I can work with in there.

I'll get another couple of photos when I can get the conversion cable working.

 

[Reach4]

Does the water stop leaking soon after the shower? You might consider running water right to the shower drain, to see if leaking occurs in that case. The thing you want to test for is whether the water is coming from the water that hits the drain, or is it coming from water that never makes it to the drain.

 

[purduephotog]

Fernco https://imgur.com/gallery/H6ng5

Soap scum on the bottom of the pipes. I just finally got the drain out. The whole thing was packed in putty. Threads weeps and base.

 

[Reach4]

You could try running water directly into the drain via a garden hose through a window. See if you can see leakage.

If no leak that way, let the water go into the shower pan, but not onto the walls. Is there a leak then?

 

[purduephotog]

You could try running water directly into the drain via a garden hose through a window. See if you can see leakage.

If no leak that way, let the water go into the shower pan, but not onto the walls. Is there a leak then?

Did. No leak. Pretty sure it was all related to the seals (overseal?) at the pan. I hope- I'm waiting on the drain to come in. Right now I'm having a heck of a time cleaning up the PVC; will get the steam out and see if that helps remove the putty.

Best I can come up with now is since they didn't support the bottom of the fiberglass shower, they either had a crack in the sewer line and cut it, and the piping to the shower, out. Looking at the stains on the wall and the differences in dates on the plumbing PVC pieces, I think that was the issue.

Unfortunately it leaves me with the same dilemma - rip it out, get some form of expansion foam rated to go under showers as a supporting, or do nothing and wait for another failure. The Ferncos I'll end up leaving on until I get to redoing the bathrooms.

 

[Reach4]

Did. No leak. Pretty sure it was all related to the seals (overseal?) at the pan. I hope- I'm waiting on the drain to come in.

Now see if you can seal the pipe and do a test around the flange. With a shower, the leak could also be at the walls or just above the pan. It can even be from the floor outside of the shower.

If the drain itself is leaking, take a look at WingTite and BruCo.

 

[purduephotog]

So sorry for the delay. Wrong parts got ordered, wrong parts got shipped, and travel for work. Needless to say ... grrrr.

It's fixed, but the drywall isn't repaired. I ended up shooting a can of the low-expansion (4x dense!) white window foam around the drain to help support it. There is definitely a feel of strength in that area now, compared to the flexing that was there. Cognizant of the water-curing issue, I also steamed the area prior so there'd be nice, moist, humid air to help cure it.

One of the ways I located the leak was using a thermal camera- I had tried to upload earlier, but the camera (windows) decided I needed driver updates. Hence....

 

[purduephotog]

Images from the FLIR camera, showing the 'hot spot' on the ceiling (water dripping), and then tearing out the drywall to see... hot water leaking around the edge of the pipe (but not visible in other shots).

There was soap scum (fluoresced under UV) on the bottom of the pipe, but that just told me there had been a problem.