Funky shower drain

[jaykay20]

Hi! I think I already know that this shower needs gutted. But really, it will be rarely used and there just is not budget for it at the moment. And except for this stupid drain its in really great shape, just needs a good cleaning.

Here is the situation (and picture):

It is a fiberglass shower installed in 1983 when the house was built. Shower is still in great shape as is the rest of the floor except right there at the drain, amazingly enough.

It is in the basement but they put a plywood subfloor above the cement. So the pipe in there is ABS, 2 inches wide, they cut a hole in the subfloor , put the pipe in and it immediately elbows off to who knows where and connects to who knows what, presumably the main drain. The strainer just sits on it, loose. BTW, this is the only ABS pipe we have found in the entire house, everything else is PVC. So why in the world they did that is beyond my wildest imagination.

I suppose the temporary and easy fix would be to silicone or epoxy the heck out of that wood area surrounding the pipe so it would quit eating away at the wood or run the risk of leaking under it. But then the strainer would just be sitting loosely on there still or I would have to permanently caulk that on and then if anything ever did go wrong it would for sure be an entire gut job.

So I am trying to figure out some way to put a real flange drain and strainer in there without having to gut the entire shower. Is that even possible? Thanks for any help with this.

PS: 62 year old female DIYer

 

[hj]

A black pipe inside a black hole does NOT show us much, so we have no idea what the real problem is or how it can be solved.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

t is in the basement but they put a plywood subfloor above the cement. So the pipe in there is ABS, 2 inches wide, they cut a hole in the subfloor , put the pipe in and it immediately elbows off to who knows where and connects to who knows what, presumably the main drain.

Immediately. Hmmm. What is that in inches?

Read about WingTite and BruCo drains to see if either looks like it would help you. I have never seen either myself. They would rely on the drain line staying vertical for some distance.

 

[jaykay20]

"Immediately" is about 3 inches total space between cement and top of floor. There is only one spot in the whole basement that does not have subfloor for me to see the depth and it measures 3 inches. Unfortunately that 3 inches includes the subfloor and flooring, so probably really only 2 1/2 inches. When I put my fingers down the drain I can barely get my fingers down there before I can feel the elbow off to the right.

The REAL problem is, there is no real drain/flange there, just a black pipe through the subfloor, flush with the subfloor. I don't know how to attach any type of drain flange/strainer to it. Right now it is unsealed between the drain pipe that comes up flush with the subfloor and the 3 1/2 inch drain opening. So water gets into the subfloor right there around that pipe.

So it is a 2 inch pipe that immediately elbows. I have since discovered that it goes under the subfloor to the wall where it connects to our laundry drain and then makes a right turn to the main drain. I would have to rip out the shower, rip out the closet, all of the subfloor and part of the wall to replace all of that pipe. And then because of the small space in the subfloor I would still have a problem if it has to stay vertical for any distance in order to put a drain on it.

What they did was stupid. But I really cannot rip out the entire bathroom for this one drain. If I could figure out how to get a strainer on there I would just do something like plumbers epoxy to seal off that area between the pipe and the shower hole. But I would just have a free floating strainer kicking around there if I do that. And once that is sealed off, if I ever had to get into there for some problem, I would be back to having to rip out the whole shower.

Just trying to figure out some way to attach a drain to that black pipe without having to gut the entire bathroom to do it. I looked at the Wingtite and it "might" work. It is only two inches tall, but I suspect that elbow will be a problem. Could not find much about the BruCo yet.

And f they glued that black pipe to the subfloor, I am thinking not even something like the Wingtite will work. Not sure how I would remove that bit of subfloor around the pipe without breaking the pipe off it they glued that in there.

Clearly the reason there is no drain in there is because after they screwed up and installed it the way they did, there just wasn't any drain out there that would fit. So if that is the case, that means there is no way to fix it without tearing up the cement flooring. And even if I did that, I have no idea how I could tie that into the main drain because everything else is above cement level. Even I know that water doesn't drain upwards.

So is the only answer to put plumbers epoxy (or silicone?) all over that area and just caulk some sort of permanent strainer over it? Totally crappy fix but without ripping out not just the bathroom but half the basement, I don't see how else I can use this shower.

 

[Reach4]

Not sure how I would remove that bit of subfloor around the pipe without breaking the pipe off it they glued that in there.

I don't know what you are trying to do. But if using a hole saw to cut around something would match what you have in mind, there is a way. Usually when you use a hole saw, there is a center drill that locates the hole saw to keep it on target. If you cannot use that, the technique is to put a hole in a piece of wood with the hole saw. Remove the center/pilot bit. Hold the wood ,and hole in the wood, firmly over the place you want to drill. Let the big hole keep the outside of the hole saw in check.

This may not match with what you want to do, so if so, disregard.

 

[jaykay20]

Thanks, right, that could work. As long as I didn't go a fraction of an inch too far and end up cutting into the pipe elbow.

So let's say I could get that subfloor out of around that pipe, I could probably do that somehow or another. I still don't see how there is enough room for a topside fitted drain to fit, because of that stupid elbow.

 

[Reach4]

Thanks, right, that could work. As long as I didn't go a fraction of an inch too far and end up cutting into the pipe elbow.

A small fraction of an inch would probably not be a problem. I expect 1/16 would be acceptable, and 1/32 would be no problem.

So let's say I could get that subfloor out of around that pipe, I could probably do that somehow or another. I still don't see how there is enough room for a topside fitted drain to fit, because of that stupid elbow.

Can you measure inside of the pipe down to where the vertical pipe ends? Then you can deduct what I think is 0.75 inch. Check that dimension yourself before relying on it. I got that from page 11 of http://www.charlottepipe.com/Documents/DimensionalCatalogs/Plastic_Pipe_Fittings_DC-DWV(609).pdf

 

[jaykay20]

I clicked your link but not really sure what I am looking for in all of that. But I measured inside the pipe. Which is difficult because that pipe IS the actual elbow. So when I measure inside it is 2 inches to where the bend starts and 4 inches to where it ends. Which actually does not calculate with my measurement for subfloor and cement in the other spot in the basement. But that is the measurement I am getting.