Doing a new shower job … ripped the old one back to the studs … plumber installed new drain and several feet of pipe to replace old junk. Just realized that the drain is not level. It is off by about 1/8″ … maybe 3/16″. Way, way too late to level it. Any ideas? Can I grind off the threads on the plastic drain insert so there’s a little play in the fit, and epoxy or something the parts level and flush?
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell’em “Certainly, I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Replies
heat it and shape it to fit????
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Are you serious? What would you heat it with ... a plumbers propane torch? I can't get to the body of the drain ... the pan liner, mud bed, and tiles (but not the grout) are in place. What would you do ... take the metal grate off, aim the torch flame down the inside of the drain? What's the chances it would burn through? Guess I could go buy a new drain and try it.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Can you get the top of the strainer below the level of the tile? It might not matter so much then.
Is the liner plastic? If yes, I'd be real careful with heat.
Who's sweating this more? You or the plumber?
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Heat gun? Electric bulb?
You have nothing to lose if you try to remove the strainer. cut the piece from zero to whatever you need and glue back the pieces. You need to mark the low side and that will be your zero.
No guarantee but you may get lucky. Do you made the leveling grid for the bed?
Good luck.
YCF
if only I could see it..
heat gun would be the only way to go....
it is PVC isn't it...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
The plumber is not sweating this at all. He is a friend of the HO and is doing the work for her directly. He had to set the valve body twice cuz it was too deep in the wall and not square to the wall plane. The mud bed is reasonabl;y level at the drain ... if I adjust the tiles to be flush with the drain, one side will be obviously high. Yes, it's a plastic drain.
If I grind off the threads so the fit is loose, the problem I see is how to "glue" the parts back together. I suspect that the gap will be too large for pvc solvent. Maybe a 5 minute epoxy ... would it set fast enough so it doesn't run down the drain?
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
a gel type epoxy then rated for the PVC....
have the plumber get himself a torpedo and let him fix it...
bill as CO 'cause of the plumber...
core drill out the mud bed around the drain and use yur heat gun to straighten / level the drain...
replace the cored out mud bed with a slurried add mix....
shorten the hub on the drain so it sets deeper...
holesaw out the threads instead of grind and epoxy...
which way is the male / female arangement on the drain...
HS out the female threads / adaptor and leave the male threads alone if you can...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
I would add: don't drill down to the liner. If you can remove the mud within two inches of the drain, it might be possible to get it out. I would think it would be easier to replace the whole shebang.Les Barrett Quality Construction
can U sand down the high spot? drill the screw holes deeper and let the screw cut it's own threads? Or grind off the end of the screw to shorten it ...
or cut it level with a small round cutting disk working from the inside .... like with a dremel or rotozip ....
had one once where we ran a fat bead of silicone and let it set first.
made it fatter at the low side ... let it set up over night ... next day ... the plumber just screwed the plate down and tightened it adjusting till level.
only needed about an 8th ... I was just the tile sub but it looked OK to me.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
hackI Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
at least I didn't bury it!
ahh ha ha ha ha .....
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
If this is plastic drain pipe, and it's reasonably accessible, you can GENTLY heat the pipe and bend it slightly.
If some sort of adapter has been installed and is off level, it can be cut off and a new one installed. When gluing plastic drain pipe one can generally achieve several degrees of "english" if the fitting is held properly as it sets.
I'd tell you how you might correct it, or what I might do, but all of the Byrne fans and a few others will want to roast me like a marshmallow.
Email me if you want.
Funny how you come off as such an expert sometimes, and then you let the shid piper screw you all up like this. Where were you when he was doing this to YOUR job?
Second thought.......borrow the plumbers level to finsh the rest of your job.
EricI Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
and then you let the shid piper screw you all up like this. Ironic, isn't it? The day he showed to do the rough-in, I found someplace else to be. The room is too small for two people to be working in, so I decided I would rather stay out of his way so he could get done. Heck, it looked ok. This is my first time working in an old house (1924) ... most of my work is in fairly new houses, on concrete slabs. Anyway, it's not off by much, and it's just one of those things that makes the job interesting. If everything went perfectly, there wouldn't be any need for this forum.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
flatten it or turn the lip to look right...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
A point for future reference -- If you'd caught the problem after rough-in then it would have been easy to fix. In fact you probably could have flexed the pipe that much. Unfortunately, it's now cast in concrete.
I've had my share of problems with plumbers, two this week alone.
One leaking tub overflow, and then I caught his employee full into a trim with NO dropcloth on the floor.
He's done. If you can't trust them to work alone, then something has to change.
Good luck with the drain.
EricI Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
Ed, nothing I can think of here that's not already been suggested. However, you're running the job. That means you suspiciously inspect everyone else's work right after they do it. You walk around with a tape, a level, and a 2-foot chunk of 2x4. If their work isn't in the right place and done correctly, you thump them with the 2x4. Until a sub is proven reliable, you don't trust them.