Plumbers....adding a shower drain questions

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Not a plumber, but how are you gonna clean that trap out, once it gets clogged with hair and soap. IIRC the floor flange Is held to the floor from the bottom with a large diameter nut, and the whole thing cannot be disassembled from the top.
So, IMO, that takes precedence, cuz teenagers don't give a hoot about your drainage, and will plug it up within two years.
I think you might want to elevate the floor, and move the trap out from under the base,lol.
My wife plugs ours up about every 5 years. Lotsa slope is your friend, else the soap cakes up in the pipes too. And if you flush it further down the pipe, it will just cake something else up. I hooked my washer upstream from there, to flush the line, semi-continuously,lol. It seems to be working.... touch-wood. Lord that woman uses water.

Nice pics BTW, makes it easy to see what you're up against.
 
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I’ve never put a p-trap under a shower or tub. Only sinks. I usually just run pipe from the flange and pitch it twords the mainline and vent. I see it is in a basement, is it going to a pump?
 
Steve , I'm not a plumber, but I played one once . With the p trap under the shower base and the back flow preventer as long as the drain pipe flows down hill @ 1/4" per foot you should be OK. But without a vent stack it might suck the P trap dry once in a while.
 
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1. Is moving the shower the only change going on with this branch? Are you adding any other fixtures, or moving them a significant difference?

2. Did you have any problems with the previous set up?

3. What type of pipe is there now?

4. Did you pull a permit/is it getting inspected?
 
Prev shower was toast. This is the only change being made to drain pipe.
Toilet and flange are fine.
ABS pipe
Pascamp said:
1. Is moving the shower the only change going on with this branch? Are you adding any other fixtures, or moving them a significant difference?

2. Did you have any problems with the previous set up?

3. What type of pipe is there now?

4. Did you pull a permit/is it getting inspected?
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4spdragtop said:
Prev shower was toast. This is the only change being made to drain pipe.
Toilet and flange are fine.
ABS pipe
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I just put a new shower in our master bath and the shower has a P trap plus a vent inside the wall going up through the roof.
Sometimes the Wife comes out of the bathroom asking why the empty bathtub (also with a P) goes "GLUG" when she flushes the toilet.
I told her she is overloading the toilet.:D

Hint:
right before you put that pan in for the last time put some quik set mortar down under the part that doesn't touch the floor for support.
Otherwise the pan can crack because they are not made to support a couple hundred pounds.
 
Remove the plumbing back to the existing and dig down about a foot so you aren't fighting yourself. Snap lines to locate your new drain location. From the existing plumbing go down with a 45 to another 45(this forms one end of your trap). Run a long length (more volume to keep the trap wet) to a sweep 90 up to your drain location. Don't use the dwv fittings with the shallow glue socket. Pressure fittings have 1 1/4" glue sockets. Dry fit it all together before glueing. You've now created whatever elevation change you need, made it easy to snake, and given yourself more protection against sucking the trap dry.

I'm assuming that thing with the furncos is the check valve. Go return that, and get your money back. Never install a valve where it can't be serviced. That thing will actually work as a snare and won't prevent backflow once it doesn't seat.

I gotta run around for a while, but I'll expand on this later tonight when I get home.
 
Keep in mind that in winter, without a shower-trap,It is possible for the closest vent stack to pull your nice warm moist bathroom air right up the stack like a chimney-pipe, to eventually freeze when it hits atmosphere. Guess what will become your new vent .... And every toilet in the house higher than the shower will force a little air now trapped in the pipe, to vent out that shower-drain,lol, cuz the water cannot come down as a slug, unless the air ahead of it has somewhere to go. As the slug passes the shower,it ain't gonna pull a vacuum on your frozen stack (s). So there is your floordrain, exhaling noxious fumes, then inhaling your warm air.I mean it could happen... am I wrong?
It has to have a trap, and you already know that. But IMO, it also has to be accessible for clean-outs, cuz you really don't want to send that hairy soap clog out the main line. It it hits something in there it can't get past, you'll be calling the Roto-Rooter man.
But, I suppose the trap doesn't exactly need to be right there under the floor. You could put it in a box somewhere more convenient.
 
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4spdragtop said:
Hi all, doing a remodel in basement. Extending the shower drain and adding a back flow preventer. Extended approx 3 feet. Now with the slope it puts the p trap connection to straight pipe approx 1/2" above the existing concrete. I was going to "backfill" with gravel that I removed, then top with concrete and then floor leveler, finally topped with a layer of dricore.(7/8" thick)Then shower base. Bathroom is small approx 50-60 sq ft.
I'm kinda wondering how to go about this?? In the 3rd pic the small level is where the p trap connects, and it sits approx 1/2" above concrete at the edge.
Where the larger 4' level runs side to side, that is where the leading edge of shower base will be. ABS sits flush with concrete right there.
Sika floor leveller and then dricore for subflooring throughout.
Looking for some guidance here.
Thanks
Steve
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Im a plumber. So first of all you need a p trap centered under the shower base. Use 2inch pvc from the abs pipe connecting it with a rubber fernco. If the abs pipe is 1 1/2 use a 2 by 1 1/2 fernco to connect the pvc to the abs. Another thing is i dont see a vent fot the shower. If there's no vent the shower will gurgle when another fixture is used. It will not drain as well either. Pit a 2 by 1 1/2 1inch wye in before the trap and run 1 1/2 pvc to the wall where u can stub up the pipe 4 ft and install a auto vent on top.
 
The reason I asked about if you had previous problems was related to venting as Scott touched on. If it's not already vented it should be. Run it in the interior wall as he suggested. I'll just add that access is necessary with an AAV. They do fail eventually and let in sewer gas. Even a simple heating register grate mounted in the untiled side of the wall works fine.

The trap as you already know is mandatory. It's only real function is to trap water to block gasses. It does not have to be serviceable, and isn't meant to catch earrings, wedding rings, or car keys(that's the strainers job). It does need to be well constructed, and thought out though. Use sweeps and 45's to facilitate easier snaking.

Backflow/check valve. Unless you have a really strong, valid reason for needing one... don't bother. Waste lines only have gravity helping them and therefore can not overcome the spring assisted style. The water and waste will stack behind the valve until enough pressure is present to open the valve. The unassisted style just has a flapper that uses it's own weight and pressure/vacuum differential to open and close the valve. There's not enough velocity in a drain line to keep the valve clear. If for some reason you still really want one....do not burry it! Install a proper one on the main. Bust the floor out and install a service/sump box to mount it in. Also use the style with the clear lid for a quick visual inspection, and easy service.
 
I'm no plumber, but I jus gotta say;
My wife takes a lotta showers, and loses a lot of hair, and every time she does, some of it settles in the traps with the soap scums. About once every four years or so she will be standing ankle deep in water, and freaking out. To make my life easier,I have engineered lots of slope and short runs to the stacks, jus saying. And it still comes about every four years.
Up here where I live, the drains have little openings, about quarter by quarter,and are flush to the floor, and are retained from the bottom; so good luck fishing the hair ball outta there.
When it stops draining, who's gonna be the lucky guy to tear it all apart to clean it out, jus saying.
But I'm no plumber.
 
AJ/FormS said:
I'm no plumber, but I jus gotta say;
My wife takes a lotta showers, and loses a lot of hair, and every time she does, some of it settles in the traps with the soap scums. About once every four years or so she will be standing ankle deep in water, and freaking out. To make my life easier,I have engineered lots of slope and short runs to the stacks, jus saying. And it still comes about every four years.
Up here where I live, the drains have little openings, about quarter by quarter,and are flush to the floor, and are retained from the bottom; so good luck fishing the hair ball outta there.
When it stops draining, who's gonna be the lucky guy to tear it all apart to clean it out, jus saying.
But I'm no plumber.
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There is certainly a few stupid answers on here , use all 2" , install a vent / can be smaller such as 1 1/2", put the 2" trap below the shower drain, don't worry too much about how far down it is , if it reasonable. " I couldn`t pull up the pics for some reason--------------
Don't create a long p-trap -----------------keep debris out of it while under construction !
 
famous bob said:
Don't create a long p-trap -----------------keep debris out of it while under construction !
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Where I grew up we had a lot of vacation homes. We would construct large volume traps on all fixtures to prevent dry traps from evaporation. To this day I still incorporate large volume traps on sporadically used fixtures (basement bathrooms, garage sinks, ect). Never had any problems in 25yrs.

In this instance he really only has two choices. Raise the shower, or have a long trap. Regardless of how he plumbs it, it's going to be wet from the crest height to that level in the drain riser.
 
I thought indoor plumbing was forbidden in Canada?

:)

Needs a waterproof "**** ticket" dispenser!
 
crackedback said:
I thought indoor plumbing was forbidden in Canada?

:)

Needs a waterproof "**** ticket" dispenser!
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Still cant pull up pics for some reason -------------
plumbed for almost 50 yrs., never got ate up by a shower ! lol
 
famous bob said:
Still cant pull up pics for some reason -------------
plumbed for almost 50 yrs., never got ate up by a shower ! lol
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My P.C. IS WORKINHG VERY SLOW AND JUMPING AROUND , finally got a pic----
Think I`d raise the floor of the shower too , easiest way out , if u got the room !
 
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