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[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

Dunbar Plumbing was called out to a shower drain that had been reacting to a newly installed toilet on the first floor above. When we arrived, we had the customer who resides on Cadillac drive in Independence Kentucky to flush the toilet to see if we could recreate the problem.

Sure enough without much effort, the shower drain instantly backed up but drained just as fast. The drain acted like the wastewater from the toilet above was encountering resistance when the toilet was flushed above and finding the lowest point of the plumbing system to come back up in.

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[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

With our drain cleaning equipment we ran the cable down the shower drain itself with the largest cable possible. The toilet and vanity nearby, along with a close proximity floor drain showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever.

Once the cable was put down the drain there was little to no result with our efforts. Drain cable was ran 77' and never once hit an obstruction nor did we hit any spots in the drain line that would indicate a partial obstruction.

It must be noted that an American Standard Champion 4 toilet was installed on the first floor above this shower. This is relative given the fact that the American Standard Champion 4 toilet has the most forceful flush that is commonly installed in homes these days.

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

Given the fact that water enters this plumbing system with such a force, this revealed a piping issue/consideration in the basement of this home.

Since the drain cleaning of this particular fixture yielded no result, our next line of questioning was pointed at the installation of the piping regarding the shower. We are of the professional opinion that no vent for the shower exists, and that when this shower was installed in the bathroom directly below the bathroom above it created a 'siphoning' of the trap.

We experimented with different methods of flushing the toilet above and sure enough, a full and slower flush minimized the amount of water that ejected from the shower drain. Since this toilet on the first floor is the most used, this shower over the course of a day will eject its contents in the trap, causing sewer gases to eventually leak from the drain itself until someone pours water into the trap to prevent a sewer gas leak.

This whole event was a great learning experience as it provided some good insight as to "what if we installed that toilet and this happened" outlook.

We will now always tell our customers ahead of time of the conditions that exist with this powerful flushing american standard champion 4 toilet has, and what might create as a result of it. The customer decided to switch toilets from the downstairs which is an American Standard Cadet 3 toilet to the American Standard Champion Four which is upstairs. By switching these the less powerful flushing toilets will now be on the basement level instead of the first floor, directly over the incorrectly installed plumbing that was done for the shower.

State of Kentucky enforces venting for each and every plumbing fixture in the home. This is an important feature of the plumbing system as it allows for the free air movement when water is passing through. 

[saysflushable]

 Man you guys need every fixture individually vented...    That is harsh.

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

Yeah but when that's all you know....it's actually not bad. Constantly keeps you thinking how you're going to make it work when it comes to residential remodel or reworks. Not that the plumbing inspector is always going to be checking it out...just the "what if" scenario.

I've got a wet bar going in that's going to be tapped off a 2" main drain stack that serves both the washing machine discharge and the kitchen sink.

I have no vent whatsover. I'm allowed to do a revent, which is a tie back into that same drain stack with a reverse wye, but I literally have no vent, anywhere where this bar sink is going.

I'm not coming back to do the finish work but I "heard" that a cheater vent/pro vent was going to be installed to cover the venting issue on this fixture.

Problem with that idea is that damn cheater vent is going to be constantly vibrating/opening up, given the suction of air always being created when the dishwasher or washing machine goes into the dump cycle.

Hrmmm....

[Tags:]

Tags: shower drain  cadillac drive independence kentucky  cadillac drive  kentucky