Having trouble removing a shower drain (cast iron)

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

swimmingmullet

New Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
,
Hey guys, I'm new here. The guy that used to walk me through some of my plumbing issues at my local plumbing store retired so now I'm lost when I need some advice.

I'm in the middle of remodeling a walk in shower. The shower floor started sinking and slowly started to notice I needed to redo the entire thing. I have everything out except for the drain. I will include three pictures.

The drain will move up and down but there is still something holding it. All suggestions are very much appriciated.

Here are the pictures:

2013-02-11_10-55-39_463_zps47a2bb6f.jpg


2013-02-13_10-30-15_77_zps2d9b6041.jpg


2013-02-13_10-30-20_401_zpse4bc6f98.jpg
 
Last edited:
Well, it looks like you got the strainer out, but the strainer wasn't designed for the drain. It appears to have been caulked in place on a leaded flange and the floor is concrete. BTW, thanks for the photos, they really help. If I understand you correctly, you are pulling up on the vertical part of the drain. It appears to be a cast iron tailpiece, straight down to the p-trap.
If so, the tailpiece can't be removed unless you break up concrete and repipe the drain and trap. I guess it would be better, also, to describe what end-result you want. Do you want to skim-coat with concrete and retile? Remove all concrete and start from scratch? Just replace the flange and drain? Just some examples on info that could help some of our guys get some insight.
 
If there are not any problems with the drain, then just have a plumber caulk in a new cast iron flange.

He'll be in/out in about an hour.

It is the most efficient fix for you to move on with your tile work. Expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $500 depending on your area. Most of the plumbers with the skill to do this right are not cheap.
 
I need to remove it because this drain has two parts where the shower liner goes in the middle of and the top and bottom bolt together with 4 bolts.

Good new is I got the drain out. Now my issue is do I replace the p trap too? I would rather not because its under the slab. I'm thinking about pouring water into it for a few minutes and seeing if it leaks. I was tugging on it a little and seemed solid but I don't know . Any thoughts?

Thanks again for the replies!
 
It all depends on how you removed it. A plumber would know the force they used and would know if anything cracked. But first off a plumber would have likely dissembled the drain the same way it was put on and either caulked a new drain on or opened the floor and snapped the cast and installed a fernco adapter or just replaced the trap and installed a new drain. After you install the new pan and put it under a test for leaks is a horrible time to determine the connection has failed and you have to go back and do it right. After tile it becomes majorly worse. There is also very little chance you are going to detect with water down the riser if there are any major problems under the slab. Hope this helps.
 
Back
Top