Trying to help a friend who has experienced a serious flooding of the condo beneath hers. The problem is the result of something I have never before encountered (I am not a professional, just a victim of many years of rental property ownership and maintenance). The tub overflow is PVC and would appear perfectly normal except for one thing: near the bottom of the vertical overflow itself, there is a 1 1/2 wye, oriented vertically. Entering that wye, and simply going in at an odd angle, is a 1/2 PVC.
Here let me explain that this information was obtained while I was lying face down in the air-return under a closet HVAC system adjoining the bath, with my arms stretched out before me. I had punched through the sheetrock and was just able to reach the drain assembly.
I could reach my fingers into the wye and feel that the 1/2 simply ended about 2 inches into the open end of the wye. I could also feel that the interior sides of the wye seemed to be coated with a something that felt like a very smooth hard wax or epoxy-like coating, but whatever had been there was gone and it was all definitely now open to the atmosphere.
Sure enough, filling the tub enough that the water level reached higher than the top of the wye, then pulling the drain plug, immediately shot a spout of water out the top of the wye.
All I could do was extend a small hand mirror and by shining a flashlight I could see that the 1/2 PVC went up and made a 90-degree turn toward the centerline of the shower , then made another 90 and appeared to be threaded to a connector of some sort, which might have been at about the height of the faucet assembly. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to see or judge exact distances. I also had to leave before being able to investigate any further, so was only able to plug the open-end of the wye with a handful of putty for now.
I live about 150 miles from that location and thought I would try to find out what might be going on with that extra connection. It would appear that the function itself is an intended one, but that the installer perhaps did not have the proper bushings or adapters and did some sort of make-do. The original work was done in the 1980's and it may have gone bad many years ago. It would still be unnoticed had not my friend had a friend of hers staying there who happened to have filled the tub fully for a soak, and then pulled the plug which did quite a bit of damage to the condo below.
The only thing I can even imagine is that it is some sort of leak/leakage protection built into the faucet assembly (single handled, the diverter is in the fill spout). I did have time to pull the spout and see that it was a perfectly normal thread-on type.
It is a steel tub and a tile surround.
Anyone seen this "extra" pipe before?
Thanks
Jack
Here let me explain that this information was obtained while I was lying face down in the air-return under a closet HVAC system adjoining the bath, with my arms stretched out before me. I had punched through the sheetrock and was just able to reach the drain assembly.
I could reach my fingers into the wye and feel that the 1/2 simply ended about 2 inches into the open end of the wye. I could also feel that the interior sides of the wye seemed to be coated with a something that felt like a very smooth hard wax or epoxy-like coating, but whatever had been there was gone and it was all definitely now open to the atmosphere.
Sure enough, filling the tub enough that the water level reached higher than the top of the wye, then pulling the drain plug, immediately shot a spout of water out the top of the wye.
All I could do was extend a small hand mirror and by shining a flashlight I could see that the 1/2 PVC went up and made a 90-degree turn toward the centerline of the shower , then made another 90 and appeared to be threaded to a connector of some sort, which might have been at about the height of the faucet assembly. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to see or judge exact distances. I also had to leave before being able to investigate any further, so was only able to plug the open-end of the wye with a handful of putty for now.
I live about 150 miles from that location and thought I would try to find out what might be going on with that extra connection. It would appear that the function itself is an intended one, but that the installer perhaps did not have the proper bushings or adapters and did some sort of make-do. The original work was done in the 1980's and it may have gone bad many years ago. It would still be unnoticed had not my friend had a friend of hers staying there who happened to have filled the tub fully for a soak, and then pulled the plug which did quite a bit of damage to the condo below.
The only thing I can even imagine is that it is some sort of leak/leakage protection built into the faucet assembly (single handled, the diverter is in the fill spout). I did have time to pull the spout and see that it was a perfectly normal thread-on type.
It is a steel tub and a tile surround.
Anyone seen this "extra" pipe before?
Thanks
Jack
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