New shower install

As part of a master bath remodel I'm putting in a new stand alone shower. The house is slab on grade and the decision at hand is whether to bust through the concrete to run the drain lines or install them on top of the slab and raise the shower.

The original plan was to run the lines on top of the slab as the thought of breaking up the concrete was more than I wanted to get into. The new shower butts up to another bath and the vent stack is accessible. While running lines for the laundry room remodel portion of this project the plumber stubbed in the water lines and installed a T to attach the shower drain to.

I have been revisiting this plan and am considering running the drain under the slab. If I go this route I will break up the slab myself and have the new drain installed by a plumber. I have serious concerns about the potential damage the vibration from a jackhammer could do to nearby plumbing.
How can I get through the slab without a jackhammer? How much of an area do I need to take out? The shower is 36x36 so I'm thinking 1.5' (plus some working room) from the wall and 6-8" wide. Will I need to remove concrete from the other bath or should everthing be accessible from the shower side?

I've not completely abandoned the original plan, but am exploring other options so any thoughts on either plan- or a third- are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

What do those two tees serve? Are those drains to another fixture?

If they are vents, then that is a flat vent under 42"

If those two serve drains, that's two fixtures draining over a third with no vent for the shower.

Busting the floor will not harm the pipes unless you score very deep with the concrete saw or the jackhammer hits the pipe.

Nonetheless no matter what happens, you can fix it with new piping.

I would never use a vent for a drain in a home. I'd figure out a different way to do it.

You will appreciate the shower not being raised, which usually looks pretty hokey.

You can saw the concrete, but for the small amount you need, it may not pay to have it done. You can rent them, but between hooking thing up, the water, etc., it can be messy.

A small demolition hammer shouldn't take you too long to get what you need broken up. Hilti makes a nice one. You can usually rent these, since buying one isn't cost effective for one job. I wouldn't be worried about damaging other things...anything under the floor is likely to be replaced where you are working, so that isn't a big problem, and these demolition hammers aren't that aggressive such that you'd be vibrating things further away enough to care.

If you want some really good info and help on a shower, I suggest you check out www.johnbridge.com. There is a bunch of info in their liberry (sic) and the advice forum has numerous examples of people doing exactly what you are doing, often with pictures.

I'd go with one of the Saniflo systems...way easier, and cheeper in the end.

http://saniflo.com/

Thanks for the replies. To answer your questions, the 2 horizontal pipes go to a half bath sink and laundry room sink. I know the pipe is a vent pipe as it runs into the attic, but I do not know what happens once it enters the slab. The hall toilet backs up to the vent and the master toilet is just to the left of the shower. These two toilets are side by side (separated by a wall and facing opposite directions), but they are not exactly in line. From this point I'm pretty sure the line runs to the front of the house (to the left in the picture- there is also a tub to the left of the master commode, not drawn in) as the clean out is out front, more or less in line with the commodes.

What can I expect to find once I get through the slab? Where does everything tie in? For the record, I will be having a plumber install all the plumbing, but I want to do the demo, as well as I want to know how it should be done to ensure it's not being done wrong.

Given all this how much slab would you anticipate I will need to take out? Should I be able to accomplish this within the shower area or will I need to get into the hall bath?

Thanks for the tip on the JB forum, I have posted over there, but was afraid my questions might be too plumbing oriented and tried here, too.

use a jackhammer, it's all you need for such a small area....make sure you cut off your mater main first...just in case

no way to tell how big an area until you get started and find the drain under the slab

heck, I like jackhammering...the sucky part is taking away the debris....but thats what the helpers are for