| Upgrading a bathroom is one of the more popular | | | | have to cut back the pipe or lengthen it, which may |
| home improvement projects. Handling the plumbing | | | | mean ripping up large chunks of the floor. Put another |
| for draining your shower can be exceedingly simple | | | | way, you are going to be looking at a multiple |
| unless you go overboard. | | | | weekend project. |
| Whether you are a bathtub or shower person, most | | | | Assuming we have our drain lined up, the actual hook |
| people look for shower only options when buying a | | | | up is fairly simple. The drainage pipe should be facing |
| home. This simple fact means more than a few | | | | vertical up to the collector. It will often look like a "U", |
| homeowners spend a weekend upgrading or installing | | | | which means it acts as a cleanout to keep nasty |
| showers in their bathrooms. Fortunately for you, it is | | | | smells from coming back up from the drain. To |
| a fairly simple process. | | | | connect the drain, you are going to create a water |
| A collector or pan refers to the horizontal surface | | | | tight connection between a drain cap on the top of |
| located at the bottom of the shower. The collector | | | | the pan and the drainage pipe. Systems vary, but |
| typically consists of a non-slip surface slightly banked | | | | you are typically going to do this by putting a |
| towards the center or wherever the drain is located. | | | | coupling piece on the top of the drainage pipe. This is |
| Combined with three to four inch walls around the | | | | then covered with gaskets and literally screwed into |
| side, the goal of your shower drainage plumbing is to | | | | the drain cap. The drain cap should act as a locknut, |
| get the water to flow to and down the drain. | | | | to wit, it screws directly onto the coupling. |
| You can physically build a collector for your new | | | | The tricky part of this process is getting your drain |
| shower, but you really need to think about it. Do you | | | | cap to fit into a watertight position in the pan. This is |
| really want to get into the complications of getting | | | | accomplished by backing off the drain cap once you |
| the sloping correct, not to mention making sure | | | | are sure everything fits together. At that point, you |
| every aspect of it is waterproof? And I mean every | | | | put plumbers putty around the underside of the cap |
| aspect! It is much easier to simply buy a pre-cast | | | | and then screw it back on. The putty should form a |
| collector online or at your local Lowes, Home Depot | | | | tight seal between the cap and the shower pan, |
| or hardware store. Building one might sound like a | | | | which keeps water from trickling under it and into the |
| great idea, but you will probably feel differently after | | | | framing under the shower. |
| a couple of hours. | | | | Obviously, bathroom showers come in a wide variety |
| Regardless of how you go about getting a pan, you | | | | of styles these days. If you purchase a collector, |
| should make every effort to use one that has the | | | | they almost always come with plumbing instructions |
| drain located in the same spot as the original pan. | | | | or the store can note anything unusual you should |
| Moving the drain pipes can be a task, particularly if | | | | know. It sounds complex, but is typically pretty |
| the builder used a unique framing structure. If you | | | | straight forward. Have fun! |
| are determined to move the drain, you are going to | | | | |