Is it common, or code, to put a p trap downstream from a shower, on a concrete pad?

[Mark In Florida]

I removed an old fiberglass shower pan, and under it there was no p trap. It's a Florida slab home, and I need to move the drain about 6 inches. There is zero smell, zero water movement problems, so I have been assuming that there must be a p trap somewhere? This was an add on bathroom, by the way, best I can tell added to the house in the 1980's. I even left the cap off the drain pipe for a few hours, and still no sewer gas smell, and I ran the other tub, sinks, toilet, etc just to see if there would be any smell. Thanks for any help!!

 

[Terry]

Hard to say without more checking. What happens when you put a flame there from a match? Does it flicker?
Some of the smells vary depending on what you have downline. I cut on shower line in an industrial part of Seattle one time, and it was horrible.
Across town I pulled a toilet in a restaurant and I had wind blowing in my face from the toilet drain in the floor. Interesting to say the least. It could have been the range hood sucking that air in, or who knows. A toilet uses water in the bowl as it's trap. Pull the bowl and you have a direct line to the sewer. Not something I notice so dramatically normally.

For a shower, the normal location for a trap is under the drain.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mark In Florida]

Thanks for your response. I held one of those lighters my wife uses for candles down the opening, and it didn't seem to flicker. Do you happen to know if Florida code allows, or is it normal. to put the trap downstream? I'm still getting zero smell, not even a whiff, with the temporary cap taken off. I ran a garden hose directly down the drain (my calculatioons almost 2 gallons per minute), and it never came close to the top of the open pipe. Since this is my first slab experience, I sure don't want to close it up and have problems down the road!

 

[Jadnashua]

As long as the drain is trapped, it should be okay, but especially on a shower, a long lead up to it means more opportunity for hair, soap scum, oils, and other crud can accumulate, and if there's a sharp elbow there, it may be near impossible to snake, if it ever became possible. There's a rule that you can't put a trap below the floor of something like a sink, but with a tub or shower, it generally must be. There is a limit on how far below the drain the trap can be, and rules about where and how it is vented.

 

[Mark In Florida]

Thanks. On a hunch I looked to see if Florida plumbing code addresses this, and they do. It says a p trap can be installed up to 30 incehs,, I think, from the drain. Since I'm only moving my drain about 6 inches, and since it has always worked perfectly, I'm sure I'll be fine.