I'm removing a crummy old fiberglass shower pan and came to find that
metal was on the inside of the drain once I got the cover off. I was
expecting something I could drill through and remove but think I got
cast iron.

2 questions:

Q1) How do I remove the pan without buggering up the drain?

Q2) How am I gonna turn this into a working drain for a tile floor?

Thanks for your comment,
--
Cal

On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 16:14:39 -0800, Cal Dershowitz
wrote:

I'm removing a crummy old fiberglass shower pan and came to find that
metal was on the inside of the drain once I got the cover off. I was
expecting something I could drill through and remove but think I got
cast iron.

2 questions:

Q1) How do I remove the pan without buggering up the drain?

Q2) How am I gonna turn this into a working drain for a tile floor?

Thanks for your comment,

Is the drain pipe cast iron? Information accuracy matters.

Post some photos on a free photo hosting site with a URL link back
here. I bet you get better answers.

http://tinypic.com/

On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 7:14:46 PM UTC-5, Cal Dershowitz wrote:
I'm removing a crummy old fiberglass shower pan and came to find that
metal was on the inside of the drain once I got the cover off. I was
expecting something I could drill through and remove but think I got
cast iron.

2 questions:

Q1) How do I remove the pan without buggering up the drain?

Can you get underneath the drain to get a clear idea of what is going on?

If it's in a slab, then I guess not, but just about any other installation should
allow for access, even if you need to open a ceiling. I'm not saying you should
do that at this point, but it may be an option.

Why do you think you think you'll ruin the drain if you remove the pan?


Q2) How am I gonna turn this into a working drain for a tile floor?


That is something we can't answer before we know a whole lot more.

BTW...a picture is worth a thousand words.

Thanks for your comment,

You're welcome!

On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 16:14:39 -0800, Cal Dershowitz
wrote:

I'm removing a crummy old fiberglass shower pan and came to find that
metal was on the inside of the drain once I got the cover off. I was
expecting something I could drill through and remove but think I got
cast iron.

I have done both bathrooms in this house and both were cast iron drain
systems.

2 questions:

Q1) How do I remove the pan without buggering up the drain?

You can just get medieval on the pan if you are replacing it. Cut
around the drain and take out the rest, then work on the part around
the drain. Mine was on a slab in both cases. After being very careful
to get everything apart surgically, the plumber who was advising me
said to just cut it back to a convenient spot, put a "no hub"
connector and plumb it back in PVC so the drain would be easier to
set.

Q2) How am I gonna turn this into a working drain for a tile floor?

See above.

Thanks for your comment,

On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 9:49:45 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 16:14:39 -0800, Cal Dershowitz
wrote:

I'm removing a crummy old fiberglass shower pan and came to find that
metal was on the inside of the drain once I got the cover off. I was
expecting something I could drill through and remove but think I got
cast iron.

I have done both bathrooms in this house and both were cast iron drain
systems.

2 questions:

Q1) How do I remove the pan without buggering up the drain?

You can just get medieval on the pan if you are replacing it. Cut
around the drain and take out the rest, then work on the part around
the drain. Mine was on a slab in both cases. After being very careful
to get everything apart surgically, the plumber who was advising me
said to just cut it back to a convenient spot, put a "no hub"
connector and plumb it back in PVC so the drain would be easier to
set.


Wait...I don't recall seeing you in my basement bathroom.

That is exactly what I went through. After breaking up the slab and
exposing the cast iron hub, I paid an "advisor" $25 look down into the
hole. He basically told me exactly what he told you.

Was your advisor an old Italian plumber? ;-)

That $25 was well worth it. By the time I did my upstairs bathroom, I
had learned enough to do it on my own.

If you are not getting sewer gas smells with the pan removed, there is probably a trap located somewhere downstream from where you are working. So, you just need to get a reasonably clean connection to the drain below the pan.

Since you will not be flushing any solids down, you have a little less stringent demands on your connections. Since the volume of water is relatively slow and steady when someone is using the shower, if it was my shower pan, I would use PVC pipe and lots of glue and silicone rubber to get a waterproof connection. If there are bends and twists in the PVC pipe to get the connection, I would not be too worried because of the kind of use.

On 11/17/2015 8:18 PM, wrote:
If you are not getting sewer gas smells with the pan removed, there is probably a trap located somewhere downstream from where you are working. So, you just need to get a reasonably clean connection to the drain below the pan.


Never smelled a whiff of sewer there. It makes me wonder how deep the
main drain is going out to the street. Maybe I should look for cleanouts
to figure it out.
Since you will not be flushing any solids down, you have a little less stringent demands on your connections. Since the volume of water is relatively slow and steady when someone is using the shower, if it was my shower pan, I would use PVC pipe and lots of glue and silicone rubber to get a waterproof connection. If there are bends and twists in the PVC pipe to get the connection, I would not be too worried because of the kind of use.


Good points. This might be the easiest thing to plumb in a house.
--
Cal