Grout creeping out of shower drain?

[Lordoftheflies]

Hi. I am posting for my neighbor who has a shower stall on the first floor. He has the same exact house as me (1947 Cape Cod) and probably has all the problems I had.

He said he noticed that the shower drain has this weird white substance that appears to be climbing OUT of the drain up against gravity against the pitch of the shower floor. He used a screwdriver to knock off chunks of it inside of the drain........which I told him was a bad idea......especially after he went downstairs and took a picture of the p-trap.......and the dodo who did the work in the first place glued all the PVC in place with no union or clean out for the p-trap.

Does anyone know what this could be? He uses the shower area for his 1 year old son and has a giant bathtub inside the shower stall (made for people who have no bathtub in their house) and he drains the bathtub with no issues......but he said it does seem to drain a little slowly.

I asked him to take the tub out and run the shower and it seems to drain fine......but I think there's more volume of water when draining that tub.

Here are some pics. l

In the below pic the white stuff is what's "growing" out of the drain into the grout line which I find very strange.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jeff H Young]

I never put unions on shower traps solid glue all the way . none of that's 1947 waste pipe or the shower drain or the drain. 1997 or 2007 ? but doesn't matter. for me and all of the jobs I do we don't get involved in the tile but I'm thinking possibly no pan pre slope or the mortar bed doesn't weep through to the drain holes in the drain body mold or thinset maybe even some mastic underneath the tile. some kinda DIY shower pan? I use hot mop unheard of outside of my area it seems

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Lordoftheflies]

I never put unions on shower traps solid glue all the way . none of that's 1947 waste pipe or the shower drain or the drain. 1997 or 2007 ? but doesn't matter. for me and all of the jobs I do we don't get involved in the tile but I'm thinking possibly no pan pre slope or the mortar bed doesn't weep through to the drain holes in the drain body mold or thinset maybe even some mastic underneath the tile. some kinda DIY shower pan? I use hot mop unheard of outside of my area it seems

I know that's not from 1947 - I was just saying his house was built the same time as mine. That said, everything in my house was a disaster and likewise in his.

The neighbor said he had scrubbed/scraped it a bit which is why the part creeping out is whiter on the tile...but he said it's the same stuff as what's in the drain. He said it's hard as a rock so I don't think it's mastic. If mastic gets wet it gets all gummy, n'est-ce pas?

Looking at the pic of the PVC there's no visible pan or mortar bed there. Shouldn't the drain be embedded in the pan/mortar bed? The previous owners sold the house two years ago so noone to ask what exactly they did....but if I had to guess they did it on the cheap.

If you don't want to put a union I guess that's fine but why not have a clean out plug at least? If something goes down the drain that can't be snaked clean, wouldn't you want some way to clean out the trap??

 

[Jeff H Young]

I know that's not from 1947 - I was just saying his house was built the same time as mine. That said, everything in my house was a disaster and likewise in his.

The neighbor said he had scrubbed/scraped it a bit which is why the part creeping out is whiter on the tile...but he said it's the same stuff as what's in the drain. He said it's hard as a rock so I don't think it's mastic. If mastic gets wet it gets all gummy, n'est-ce pas?

Looking at the pic of the pvc there's no visible pan or mortar bed there. Shouldn't the drain be embedded in the pan/mortar bed? The previous owners sold the house two years ago so noone to ask what exactly they did....but if I had to guess they did it on the cheap.

If you don't want to put a union I guess that's fine but why not have a clean out plug at least? If something goes down the drain that can't be snaked clean, wouldn't you want some way to clean out the trap??

We don't have basements here really often not a bad idea the union there but wouldn't consider that unordinary. Going down that trap with snake shouldn't be too bad.
There is a lot to shower pans , and the mastic idea was a stab in the dark , But I think there is a fundamental flaw in the shower build. I noted a few other possibilities.
Got your point on the age of building that much has been done over years. You still have galvanized piping? Or its just abandoned and been repiped (out of curiosity) That's getting a good use if it is.
Shower builds aren't understood well and are often built wrong

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

nd the dodo who did the work in the first place glued all the PVC in place with no union or clean out for the p-trap.

That is completely normal. A small diameter snake can make it through a 2" glued trap.

I agree with Jeff in his assessment that likely the mortar bed isn't constructed properly.. But that would be a guess. There are a few Tile guys on these forums and perhaps their opinion would be better.

 

[Lordoftheflies]

We dont have basements here really often not a bad idea the union there but woudnt concider that unordinary. going down that trap with snake shouldnt be too bad.
There is a lot to shower pans , and the mastic idea was a stab in the dark , But I think there is a fundamental flaw in the shower build. I noted a few other possibilitys.
Got your point on the age of building that much has been done over years. You still have galvinised piping? or its just abandoned and been reppiped (out of curriosity) thats getting a gooduse if it is.
Shower builds arent understood well and are often built wrong

He has galvanized for his vent line and so do I.

That is completely normal. A small diameter snake can make it through a 2" glued trap.

I agree with Jeff in his assessment that likely the mortar bed isn't constructed properly.. But that would be a guess. There are a few Tile guys on these forums and perhaps their opinion would be better.

Even if the mortar bed wasn't constructed properly (which it probably wasn't) I still don't understand how grout can creep UP HILL against the pitch of the floor of the shower. That is just the weirdest thing.

 

[Jadnashua]

THose deposits look shiny, so not sure what they are! Probably not mineral deposits, but if it is cement based, or mineral deposits, try scraping some off and putting it in a glass jar covered in vinegar for overnight to see if it dissolves or softens.

From the type of drain used, it appears that it may be a tileable receptor, not a mudbed conventional shower pan. If it were a conventional shower, over planks for the flooring, it should not be able to have the drain sitting flat on the floor...the mud bed needs some thickness to survive over planks (or plywood), and can only be sloped to near zero thickness over a slab.

 

[Howard M Emerson]

Nevermind........did not look at the posting date........doh....

H

 

[FullySprinklered]

Tile setters tend to sluff off grout down the drain without doing anything to block it off. It hardens up and starts catching hair and stuff and eventually clogs the drain. Had to fix quite a few.