About speedball1 Expertise About me: My Plumbing Expertise: I retired from plumbing after a lifetime in the trade. all phases from service and upkeep to construction, both residential and commercial. I am qualified to do anything in plumbing from fixing a leaky faucet to drafting a set of plans for a commercial shopping center and supervising the construction. My last five years were spent as a trouble shooter for a large plumbing company. I took on all my companys complaints. I have been a expert on the plumbing page at Askme.com. In a field of 200 experts my rating was number one. You may also find me at Answerway.com and AskMe Help Desk.com. This is fun for me and if I can help anybody out that`s iceing on the cake. Degrees & Certifications: As for degrees, I don`t have any. Just a Journeymans ticket, but hey! How about fifty years experience?
Experience Life Experience? Hmmmmmmm! Ran away at 15 and joined a carnival, Navy at 17 Merchant marine at 19 I've had a hellava life.
Got a Shower leak problem for you. When I use my upstairs 2nd story stall shower, some water runs down the outside of the drain pipe and drips onto the basement ceiling.
I unscrewed and removed the stainless drain strainer on the shower drain. There was some hair in it that I cleaned out. Other than that I looks OK. The shower drain seems to be screwed into a PVC pipe that reduces into a 2" drain. This 2" drain curves out at a 90 deg angle just a few inches from the shower floor.
The drain flange is held very tight against the shower floor. I doubt it is leaking there. I tried to unscrew the shower drain by the two screw holder bosses, but it is very tight and won't budge. Is ther a special tool, (spanner wrench?) that is used for this purpose? Is it Possible that the flange is glued to the floor or just held with a sealant? The pipes are PVC and about 18 years old, same as the house.
Also, Do you think a Wingtite replacement shower drain would be appropraite in this case. Or it it better to try to get the old drain out and try to repack it? The drain is not accessable from underneath without tearing out the ceiling below. Sorry for the long question, but wanted to give as much info. as possible.
Best Regards,
Bruce McElhaney
Spring Lake, MI
Answer Hey Bruce, Whoa there hoss!! Let's not be so quick to blame the drain. Is your stall all fiberglass or do you have tile with a fiberglass base? Is the ceiling open to where you can spot the leak? If not then try this, take the strainer off and jam a wet rag down there so it's water tight. now fill the shower pan with about 1/2" of water and let it set over night. Make a pencil mark at the water line. Next morning check to see if you have lost any water. If you have they we'll discuss changing out the drain. I've found most of my shower leaks comes from where the strean hits the tile grout or a seam in the shower wall. Good luck and thanks for rating my reply. Tom
