Slip fit PVC DWV pipes ?

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WFD

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I am about to set a 32" shower stall in a corner of a very small bathroom - new construction, and the floor is slab on grade. The PVC drain (and trap) in the ground below the slab is not yet installed and final concrete not yet poured. The floor of the shower stall is plastic and instructions are to glue the drain fitting directly onto the drain pipe.

I have strong misgivings about the irreversibility of this step. If a mistake is made or if at any time in the future it is desired to change the shower stall or if it is ever damaged and needs replacing it will be impossible short of jackhammering out the concrete and the below slab drain pipe, and destroying the shower stall to make any alterations or repair.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get an O-ring or gasket that would make a seal between the outside of a 1.5" PVC pipe and the inside of a 2" PVC pipe ? If so, I could glue a short 1.5" extension of the drain on the bottom of the shower stall and slide it into the rising 2" drain pipe below the slab. Then, the whole shower stall bottom could just be lifted out from the 2" drain pipe at anytime in the future. The seal between the 1.5" and 2" pipe would be made with the gasket or O-ring.

If so, what is this called and where can I get it ?

Thanks,
WFD
 

WFD

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hj -
Not sure what you mean by a "new" drain fitting. Do you mean "another type of" drain fitting ? The drain fitting that comes with the shower stall is PVC and rims over the top of the shower stall floor, so that once it is glued to the drain pipe, both the drain fitting and the shower stall floor are permanently glued to the drain pipe which, in my case, is buried in and below the concrete floor slab.
 

Hackney plumbing

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hj -
Not sure what you mean by a "new" drain fitting. Do you mean "another type of" drain fitting ? The drain fitting that comes with the shower stall is PVC and rims over the top of the shower stall floor, so that once it is glued to the drain pipe, both the drain fitting and the shower stall floor are permanently glued to the drain pipe which, in my case, is buried in and below the concrete floor slab.

Yeah thats what HJ is saying. You can buy another type drain that uses a rubber gasket to make the connection to the drain and pipe. You install the drain onto the base and then drop the base into place. Then the rubber gasket slips between the drain and the pipe from the top. A compression ring is provides to compress the rubber gasket.
 

hj

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quote; A compression ring is provides to compress the rubber gasket.

Not all of them use the ring. Many, if not most, just use a gasket forced into the annular ring between the fitting and the pipe.
 

Hackney plumbing

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quote; A compression ring is provides to compress the rubber gasket.

Not all of them use the ring. Many, if not most, just use a gasket forced into the annular ring between the fitting and the pipe.

Sounds like junk.....I like the brass drain with the brass compression ring.....AKA no caulk drain.

no_calk_drain_42150.jpg
 
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WFD

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These all sound like it is necessary to have access under the floor. For example, to tighten the compression ring ? As I said in the beginning, this shower stall is being installed on a concrete slab on grade. There is no access underneath. The plastic drain fitting provided is meant to glue on to the end of the rising 2" PVC drain pipe. It looks like the only way is to mount the drain in the floor of the shower stall, paint PVC glue on both the end of the 2" drain pipe and on the socked in the bottom of the PVC drain fitting, then place the entire shower stall floor, drain fitting and all, on top of the glue-wet 2" drain pipe and the whole assembly will set and be glued permanently in place in 5 seconds. No access after that is possible. Any mistakes mean nothing could be done except cut the shower stall floor into pieces and jackhammer the floor.
 

Hackney plumbing

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These all sound like it is necessary to have access under the floor. For example, to tighten the compression ring ? As I said in the beginning, this shower stall is being installed on a concrete slab on grade. There is no access underneath. The plastic drain fitting provided is meant to glue on to the end of the rising 2" PVC drain pipe. It looks like the only way is to mount the drain in the floor of the shower stall, paint PVC glue on both the end of the 2" drain pipe and on the socked in the bottom of the PVC drain fitting, then place the entire shower stall floor, drain fitting and all, on top of the glue-wet 2" drain pipe and the whole assembly will set and be glued permanently in place in 5 seconds. No access after that is possible. Any mistakes mean nothing could be done except cut the shower stall floor into pieces and jackhammer the floor.

The compression ring gets installed from the top. So does the rubber gasket. stub the pipe up and drop the shower base with the drain already attached over the pipe stub. Trim the pipe to the proper height. Install the rubber gasket. Install the compression ring. Snap the strainer on. Finished.
 

Cacher_Chick

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Hundreds, if not thousands of cemented shower drains are installed every day. When done correctly it will last a lifetime. If you do need to remove it, it's a simple matter of cutting the pipe off from the inside of the drain with an inside pipe cutter.

Most shower bases will require a 3-4" diameter recess in the floor for the shower drain, which leaves plenty of room to couple in a new drain if it becomes necessary in the future.
 

daviddido

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When you leave the opening around the shower drain free of cement and you install the actual drain/ screen are you then supposed to pour cement up to the very edge of the drain or do you just install the shower pan over this little bit of exposed drain with no cement right around the pipe?
 

Cacher_Chick

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The drain gets installed onto a composite shower pan, and then the entire assembly is set down over the trapped drain pipe. There must be a recess in the floor around the pipe, as the drain assembly in most cases will sit below the top of the floor.

I like to leave some "wiggle room" around any pipe that comes up through concrete, whether it be to wrap it, sleeve it, etc.
 

daviddido

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the pictures at oatey are great but they do not show if anyone leaves space around the drain and trap. This is also true of the toilet?
 

Jadnashua

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The drain generally projects below the floor level. It is generally somewhat bowl-shaped. It fits over the pipe (not into it for the most part). So that you can actually make the connection, there must be some room around the pipe and often some to the sides of it as well. It depends on the fitting that is used. For a toilet, if you are using a 4" pipe, you can cement right up the the edges if you use an internal fitting, but not for an external one that contains a socket or hub. A 3" riser for a toilet should never use an internal fitting IMHO (but they do exist).
 

Tom Sawyer

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When I do an in slab rough for a shower I run the lateral to the drain center and then cap it and cover it with a rubbermaid container which I place upside down so when the concrete is poured around it I can cut it off with a sawzall blade and expose the pipe below. From there I make sure the dimension is correct and install the trap and riser. I then use a no-caulk shower drain which has been explained above and I'm done with it.
 
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