Shower enclosure waste problem

[garya]

Hi guys,

No match for my problem using the search facility so here goes.

Had my complete bathroom replaced recently, all ok apart from shower enclosure waste, i bought one with a built in hair trap, with the shower running the water just about drains away with a little build up, but once i get in the shower and start showering and the trap starts filling up with hair the water starts to back up into the shower enclosure. I can't find the trap i bought anywhere online but it looks pretty similar to the one on the screwfix site,

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=16391&ts=50064#

Is there no mechanism for the water to escape in the event the hair buildup stops the water draining, i have to empty this hair trap every time i shower and i have to plunge at least once to "unblock" it during a shower.

The plumber said he would have to build a platform to put the enclosure on as the floor was being tiled and also to give access to the waste in the event of a problem, but for some reason this platform was never built and now it looks like i have a problem but cannot get to the waste easily.

Any ideas or is it just a case of me being too hairy

Many thanks,

garya

 

[ChrisR]

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You may find that he wanted to put the shower on a plinth to get a decent fall on the waste pipe, and now you know why.

Try one of the drain cleaners which says it dissolves hair - Supermarkets do them.

 

[garya]

i have already used a mr muscle drain unblocker as i thought there may have been a blockage further along the waste pipe due to the fact that the drain pipe wasn't covered during the work i had done, i had tiles removed from the walls along with black lime and i thought some dust\debris may have been lodged somewhere in the pipe but that did no good, it seems there simply isnt enough drainage on the waste i bought to cope with both hair and the water, as soon as i start showering the water starts backing up into the enclosure. i dont need to dissolve the hair as i can use a pair of tweezers to clear the hair collected in the trap, but i would prefer not to have to do this every time i shower along with using a plunger and having several inches of water in the shower tray when i shower.

 

[ChrisR]

Depends which Mr Muscle - only some dissolve hair. which probably will be along the pipe. Can't see why you need tweezers, the grid comes off the rap so you can lift out the tube mentioned above.

There always seems to be hair in a shower waste pipe. Does it go into a hopper, or straight to a soil pipe, ?

 

[TicklyT]

Maybe you do have a blockage further along the pipe. I've just finished cleaning out a ball of hair that had accumulated in a basin waste pipe. It looks like it started as a couple of strands trapped in the waste grille, but the water swirling down the waste twisted more round the original trapped ones. I pulled the visible ones out of the grille, but they broke and freed the rest of the bundle to travel down the pipe and lodge in the knuckle of the next bend, which I dismantled to clean.

I'm glad I had used compression fittings!

 

[Bamber gaspipe]

Can never understand why plumbers fit showers & wastes with no access to the offending trap. It would seem that your shower trap is blocked & you are unable to access it without ripping up the floor. Common practice by plumbers is to slap a shower tray on your existing floor, hide the trap beneath the floor boards, tile the bathroom floor & hope for the best. They won`t be coming back will they? I never install a shower without a plinth & acces to trap, mines been in for five years & has just recently blocked. I simply removed the tiling from the side of plinth, removed plywood which was screwed in place for access & removed & cleared trap & refitted..job`s a good `un.

 

[Softus]

As Bamber has said, fitting a shower tray without access to the trap is ludicours - it's just like buying a time bomb.

Your only long-term remedy is to take the tray out and fit it correctly. In the meantime, to clear the blockage, remove the grate from the top of the trap, put water in the tray so that the trap is full of water, then put a wet-vac hose nozzle in the hole and turn it on. Repeat until the water is flowing nicely.

Finally, pour the contents of your wet-vac onto the head of the tray installer.

 

[Bamber gaspipe]

Finally, pour the contents of your wet-vac onto the head of the tray installer.

Good advice....I will tell you now.. Mr. Muscle or any of these hilarious chemical agents will not clear your blockage...you will have to gain access to your shower trap....sorry..

 

[Softus]

Good advice....I will tell you now.. Mr. Muscle or any of these hilarious chemical agents will not clear your blockage...you will have to gain access to your shower trap....sorry..

I completely agree. Although "Mr Magic Drain Shifter" and all of those proprietary things make an interesting odour when you finally drag the fizzy, slimy and hairy cocktail out from the pipe.

You have one possible escape route - if you can, cut an access panel in the ceiling immediately underneath the shower waste. A 12" square hole would be plenty, probably smaller. When you've replaced the trap then screw a plywood panel back afterwards, painting it to blend in.