shower pipe drain placement?

[ned8675309]

Hello,

How important is the slope and placement of the shower pipe that leads to the main drain? An assistant plumber decided to route the pipe through the wall, rather than taking the most direct line, which would be from the shower drain to the main drain in a straight shot. When we asked the head plumber why this was done, he said he didn't know. Because we are forbidden to cut into the floor (it's an apartment), we decided that a 5" step-up (shower entrance platform) would be built, which would then meet up with a shower pan raised 5". A step-up, walk-in shower. see photo.
Our concerns:
1. Could the current route of the shower pipe cause drainage problems in the future? A direct route for the drain pipe seems more logical.
2. Will access to these pipes be more complicated if there are plumbing problems in the future? With the present layout of the pipes (in red), it seems that one would have to break through the raised platform (step-up) and wall to access the pipes.

I guess the "money" question is: Why did the plumber take the hard way and route the pipes behind the wall when he had the option to place them in a straight line to the drain?

Thanks very much!
-Ned

 

[Breplum]

Straight would seem straight-er. Presuming the p-trap is way on the left in the 'old' location. Any extra bend will make snaking out the p-trap VERY VERY VERY difficult if not impossible. Ask the plumbers to run a power snake down now, to see, before closing up.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[John Gayewski]

I would guess they needed a vent for the shower trap arm.

Your picture isn't very informative since everything piping wise is covered. Kind of like asking God why he designed the human body with only two arms. Four would have been better, but we weren't there when they were building.

 

[ned8675309]

Straight would seem straight-er. Presuming the p-trap is way on the left in the 'old' location. Any extra bend will make snaking out the p-trap VERY VERY VERY difficult if not impossible. Ask the plumbers to run a power snake down now, to see, before closing up.

That's a good point I hadn't even considered. I believe the location of the new P-trap won't be far from the old location. I'll ask the plumber to "run a power snake down" as you suggest to test it out. Before the tiler put the walls up, we sent a photo of the pipe routing to the plumber, and we said, "Is this going to work?" Since there will be 5"- 6" step-up platform built over these pipes by the tiler (to create the effect of a walk-in shower), the plumber's opinion was that it would be an advantage to have the pipes run behind the wall and be out of the way. The tiler, however, didn't really see any advantage. To his credit, the plumber has been great in taking the time to unravel the maze of pipes in the cellar - a plumber's nightmare - and talk us through the options and planning. We think the X-mas rush may have caught up with the plumber and his assistant and created the present situation. Thanks again for the feedback. Much appreciated.

 

[ned8675309]

I would guess they needed a vent for the shower trap arm.

Your picture isn't very informative since everything piping wise is covered. Kind of like asking God why he designed the human body with only two arms. Four would have been better, but we weren't there when they were building.

Yeah, it's difficult with the walls up. A few shots that might (or might not) help...