Shower drain assembly

[KristenJensen]

Hello friends,

I have a cement slab home from the 1950’s in El Paso, Texas. I tore out the entire shower for a redo, and decided to center the drain while I was at it. My plan is to cut this pipe near the bottom, attach a 90, then a short straight piece horizontally, then another sweeping 90 with another short piece going vertical to where the drain will attach. I would use a primer and PVC glue for the attachments (after dry fitting.)

Does these sound like the right steps? And do I need a slight slope on the horizontal piece for proper drainage?

Finally, on the height of the drain, I assume the 4 plastic nubs (that the 4 screws turn into) will be under the cement when I pour so that the flat part “rests” on top of the concrete I pour? I will be pouring a pre-slope.

Bonus Question: What YouTubers have good plumbing channels? I like the following, even though they aren’t plumbers by trade they dabble in it. TileMasterGA, SalDiblasi, StarrTile (I know the last guy is controversial)

Thanks everyone

 

[Jadnashua]

Not a great idea.

Crack enough concrete to expose the trap, cut that off, run the horizontal to where you want the new drain, install a new p-trap and riser. The horizontal section must abide by two requirements:
- it must have slope to it to drain
- it must not be more than 5' from the outlet of the trap to the vent on a 2" pipe.

If you're going to tile the shower, do some research. Lots of ways to make a successful shower, many more ways to mess it up. Check out www.johnbridge.com for help in building the shower...plumbing help here is good, but shower construction is spotty.

Last thing...if you try to dry fit pvc pipe and fittings, you'll fail. The pipe does NOT fit in the socket of a fitting to the bottom until you add the cement which literally melts the plastic...dry fitting will cause things to end up short. YOu have to measure carefully.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[KristenJensen]

Jim, thanks so much for the time you took to answer. When I read what you wrote, I knew you were right. Too many bends the way I suggested above and I think it would have been jerryrigged. I dug down further like you suggested and found the elusive P trap, then cut at the horizontal piece just beyond it for my new starting point. Everything you see in the picture that has purple is from me!

You were also right about the dry fitting. I thought I gave myself a little longer, but still ended up short! I'm good with the end result though. It's not perfect, but I love learning and it's still better than before.

One thing that didn't come out how I thought was the level of the vertical (riser?) PVC pipe. It is about .25" too high on one side (or too low on the other as per my torpedo level. Is this normal for it to not be completely horizontal? I cut the PVC using a mitre saw, so they are straight. Now sure how much of an effect this is going to have on the finished product once I put the drain on and glue it. I'm worried I'll be putting pressure on the PVC underground to make it level at the surface, and that that could lead to a premature failure.