Best way to attach these pieces for shower drain?

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Mntentman

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Hi,

I have just retiled a shower and now need to reattach the drain plumbing. In the photos, you can see the hole for the drain and the pieces I need to put in below the floor. It's a tight fit, and since the PVC goes through a joist there is not much room to wiggle it... long story short, that means the connecting piece is shorter than I would like. But it probably doesn't make much difference as long as the seal is tight. So my question.... should I be applying a sealer or some kind of cement to any of these pieces? And if so, where, and what kind? Thanks for helping out a newbie.... appreciate it.

plumb1.jpgplumb2.jpg
 

hj

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You were supposed to put ALL the pieces together BEFORE you tiled the floor. Without seeing the entire unit, including what you tiled in, I am not even sure that you used the correct drain. From what I can see that looks like the drain for a plastic shower base, NOT tile.
 

Mntentman

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No, no, no.... it is a plastic shower base. The walls are tile, the floor is a plastic base.

The drain is a 2" PVC shower drain for preformed bases. The part above the base is just sitting in place right now, waiting to be caulked and screwed into the bottom part.

If I was supposed to connect it all through the base, then drop the base down into base... well, then, I guess I made a mistake. But I'll have to live with it.

But there has to be a preferred way to attach these pieces, even given the situation, right?

showerbase.jpg
 

hj

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That is different, but it would have still been easier to attach the drain and then place the floor over the riser pipe. Now you have to hold the bottom piece against the shower floor, and screw the top piece into it, after you apply a sealant to the flange. Then cut a piece of pipe to the correct length and glue it into the trap. Finally, you seal the drain to the pipe with whatever device came with it.
 
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Mntentman

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Thanks, hj, appreciate the info. I see a huge variety of sealants and glue in the plumbing section at the store... any recommendations what would work best for PVC to PVC?
 

Jastori

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Sealant and pvc cement are two different things - you need both.

PVC cement is used to join PVC <-> PVC. It is a permanent rigid coupling, and you only have a few sections to get the pieces properly seated once they make contact. You use PVC primer to prime both surfaces before using the cement. If you have never done this before, you should practice on some scrap sections of PVC pipe / fittings first - and read some on-line directions as well. It is not too tricky, but it can be done wrong, and is a nuisance to fix if you make a mistake. The PVC cement softens the plastic, and allows you to push the fittings together (which cannot be done fully with dry fittings) you need to twist and apply enough pressure, and then hold for about 30 seconds or so.

Sealant would be used to seal between the flange of the drain and the plastic shower base. You would typically use 100% silicone for this.
 

Terry

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Normally in that situation, I would install the new drain to the shower pan with Silicone.
Silicone under the flange where it drops into the pan.
No Silicone below the pan.


It's easier if the p-trap hasn't been installed yet. Starting from scratch, you would have a pipe from the drain, and the 90 bend for the drain both pointing down. Then you would glue and push on the U-bend.
PVC takes PVC glue and primer.
 

Mntentman

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Thanks, guys, I appreciate the assistance. Instructions for the drain are just as you say, silicone under the flange. I don't want to make this any more complicated than it needs to be, and I know I can make enough room to get the pipe connected to the drain and then into the piece below. But based on what Terry is saying, would it be easier to remove the u-bend and replace that whole section? I could then fit the drains pieces together more easilybecause space would no longer be at a premium... and then just refit the pipe together where I have drawn the circle. Or am I simply asking for more trouble that way... some problem I am not smart enough to anticipate.

Thanks!
 

Gary in NJ

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I much prefer the Oatey no-caulk drains with the threaded brass base. They include a rubber seal and simply need to be tightened in place to the shower pan. From there you can pipe to your P-trap.
 

hj

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Once you secure the drain, the pipe will SLIDE THROUGH it into the coupling, (unless it is a glue-on joint which is not apparent in the picture), then you use whatever was supplied with the drain to seal between the drain and pipe riser.
 

Mntentman

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HJ, I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say "finally, you seal the drain to the pipe with whatever device came with it" in first post, and "whatever was supplied with the drain" in your last one. Or what you mean by "the pipe will slide through into the coupling." Pardon my ignorance, and I appreciate your patience. What I have is the two-piece drain (the piece that goes above the base, with male threads). Then the other piece with female threads that goes below (as in photo). I have a piece of PVC that will go into that below-base drain piece (also in photo) from the bottom, and then into the piece of PVC (not sure what you would call this piece) that comes up vertically from the U-bend (as in photo in original post). So I don't know if I have "whatever was supplied with the drain."

My difficulty in this is that there is very little ability to move the U-bend and plumbing that is there, so the piece that goes between the drain and the vertical PVC from the U-bend has to be shorter than I would like... will not go down very far into the existing piece below it because there is no room above. My assumption is that it will go down enough, and if properly sealed, it will work OK. But that's also why I brought up the idea in post #9 to do this all a different way... and I would still like an opinion whether that is a viable option or not.

Gary in NJ... I may check out that no-caulk drain, it would connect the same way.

Thanks again!

photo.jpg
 

Mntentman

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Decided to go with a Wing-Tite... seems the best solution in this situation.
 

hj

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Almost ANY other drain would also work, and they would have a rubber gasket to secure the pipe into the drain AFTER you "dropped" the pipe through it into the coupling. Wingtites are good when you MUST use them but I would not when there are so many "better" options.
 

Mntentman

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Thanks, hj. I'm confused again, though (par for the course). I'm willing to try something besides the Wing-Tite if it works. With the drain I've been sending pics of, the PVC pipe that fits into the coupling is too wide to drop through this drain... it has a little lip on it, as you can see in the photos. Are you saying there are other drains available where this would not be the case? Can you give me an example? Maybe a link to a brand/model? I'm not quite seeing how the gasket secures the pipe into the drain.

Appreciate the help.

photo copy 3.JPG

IMG_4158.jpg
 

hj

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That is a "glue on" drain, which the original pictures did not show adequately. MOST other drains, including the WingTite, are "slip on" with a rubber seal between the pipe and the drain so the pipe slides through into the coupling AFTER the drain is fastened to the shower base. The WingTite secures the drain in just four locations, which is okay if it is the only way to do it, but a regular drain has a "locknut" which secures it at ALL points.
 

Mntentman

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Thank you, hj. Now it makes sense. (It takes me a while, but eventually...) If you have an example of the brand/model that would work for me, I would appreciate it. Then I'll be done and quit bugging you...
 

Mntentman

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Thanks. That's exactly what I did this afternoon. Got it installed and tested and seems to be all in order. Will try the new shower tomorrow when the caulk has had time to dry. Thanks for all your help and patience.
 

Jadnashua

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Keep in mind some caulks need a lot longer than a day for full cure...read the installation instructions as to when it is safe to get it wet. They may skin over in a short time, but you want it to cure a bit.
 
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