Comments about the possibility of the shower base flexing being the primary
source of the problem is very likely. The leaking drain might actually be a
"result", not a primary.cause of the leak. As suggested, get a can of foam
and get it under your base to take up any and all spaces. Let it expand out
and when cured trim as necessary. Foam was recommended by the Shower
manufacturer that I have and solidified a flexing shower pan.
MLD
"JJ" wrote in message
news
I am not a plumber, but I am mechanically pretty good. I have a situation
with my shower drain that has me stumped, so I am turing to this
newsgroup.
The shower in question is a fiberglass Aquaglass shower stall, 1 piece.
The
base is solid. Here's the story:

THe shower drain started leaking. The drywall below the shower was
damaged,
so I cut out the drywall and found that 4 years ago when the house was
built, the plumber did not glue the drain to the PVC pipe. The drain is
similiar to this one:


http://www.oatey.com/apps/catalog/sh...&prodgrpid=113

Obviously a little luck, and the tapered fitting must have made it last 4
years.


I called a local plumbing company (good reputation) and the plumber that
arrived took the drain apart and glued it like it should have been. I
wanted
to give it a little time before I re-drywalled just to make sure it was
not
going to leak anymore. I also marked the drain nut (the nut that holds the
drain to the shower base) to see if it was going to back off. He tested
the
drain before he left and it did not leak. About a week later, I thought I
noticed some water around the drain nut. So, I stopped up the drain with a
2" test plug, filled the shower and it did leak. More of a seep, but close
to dripping slowly. This was with my wife wading through the water in the
shower. It did seep without her in it also. The drain nut marks indicated
that the nut had NOT moved.

Called plumbing company, so they sent over a very experienced plumber to
look at it. He cut the PVC and pulled the drain out. Replaced the drain
with
the same style, and used one of those no-hub connectors, it did have the
stainless steel jacket. Before he did that, we both looked for any cracks
in
the fiberglass around the drain. We couldn't find any. I saw that he put a
good amount of putty around the flange before he wrenched the drain nut
down. We tested it, no leaks. I marked the drain nut again. Later that
night, I did the test plug deal again with my wife, no leaks.

This brings me to last night which was about 2 weeks since the last
plumber.
I tested it again, because I was going to re-drywall. I did the test plug
deal again, and it leaked/seeped like the first time. THe drain nut marks
again indicated that the nut had NOT moved.

Now to today. Before I loosened the drain nut, I checked to see how tight
it
was. I felt right at the line of snug. I loosened the drain nut, and
loosened the no-hub, pulled the drain up. I looked for an hour with a
magnifier and bright light, and could find no cracks at all. In fact the
drain part of the base looked in excellent condition. So, I installed a
brass drain like this one:


http://www.oatey.com/apps/catalog/sh...&prodgrpid=118

I used a good amount of putty, and tightened down the drain nut,
reconnected
the no-hub. It is not leaking at the moment. I do have a very good
fiberglass guy coming to look at it next week. Just in case I missed
something with the fiberglass part. I can't help thinking this drain will
start leaking in a week or two. All of the leaking that I have noticed
with
this drain seems to be coming from between the shower stall and the rubber
gasket, bottom side of shower. So, my questions a

1. How tight should a shower drain nut be?

2. I know this is out there, but I have to ask. Do these drains have
issues
with expansion/contractions problems, at least when they are first
installed?

3. Could the putty settle more in a week or two?

Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks,

John