Shower floor pan, does this drain look right?

[M@T]

Just moved into a house and I see some staining on the ceiling. There are two bathrooms upstairs that haven't been used in a while, so not sure if leaks are fixed or just dry from lack of use.

In one of the showers the PVC pipe seemed high in the drain, most of the water goes down the drain but after a shower some does sit around the pipe.

Is that normal? Can I silicone it or should I replace it or is it missing something?

 

[Terry]

If the ceilings below stay dry, then at least the seal is working and the body of the drain is good.
The pipe is high, but not a deal breaker. You could lay some Silicone in the gap to prevent water from pooling there.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[M@T]

If the ceilings below stay dry, then at least the seal is working and the body of the drain is good.
The pipe is high, but not a deal breaker. You could lay some Silicone in the gap to prevent water from pooling there.

Thank you!! It's a guest shower so at best it'll be used occasionally. I'll silicon the gap to reduce pooling water and watch it.

We'll hopefully figure out the leak pretty quick with kids in the other bathroom now.

Thanks Terry!

 

[Jadnashua]

That type of drain uses that rubber ring as the seal, but, if the bottom of the pan flexed a bit, the pipe may have been at the right height initially, but over time, the bottom of the pan deflected and the pipe stayed where it was. That can put some stress on the pan and is one reason why many of them call for bedding the pan in mortar to reduce flex (and ultimately, stress cracks) and make it feel much more substantial.

As long as it's not leaking or flexing anymore, it's not a big deal. But, if you wanted to shorten the pipe a little rather than filling in the gap with silicone, a tool like the RAMBIT would slice it down (just put something in the drain first to catch the chips) smoothly. You could probably use an inside pipe cutter, but it would likely end up rougher, or I've used a Dremel tool...just be careful to keep the seal intact.

 

[M@T]

Jim - I didn't even think about that being caused due to the pan dipping some. That makes more sense now that I think about it. It's ~10-15 years old.

 

[Jadnashua]

DUring my working career, I got paid for thinking outside the box, evaluating risk/benefit relationships, and looking at things from multiple angles to come up with solutions. So, alternates are a natural thing for me after so many years where it was required. Doesn't mean I'm always right!