Minimum Pipe Size for Shower Drain - Overfilling Shower Tray All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[crispyhamblin]

Hi,

We have the landlady from hell, who is trying to charge us for an emergency plumber that she called out when our shower overfilled. The shower has always been really slow to drain, and we have had to use unblocker about once a month, which just can't be right! Never had these problems in any previous property we've lived in.

I was wondering if there was any regulations on the minimum pipe size / flow rate that a shower needs to be able to cope with. Just from feeling around it with my finger it doesn't seem like there is any big opening for the water to go into. I'm going to try and take pics tonight.

Any help would be much appreciated!
If you live in West London and help me defeat this landlady witch I'll buy you a pint!

Thanks,
Chris

[proptech]

Hi Chris

A shower waste would normally be in 40mm pipework, but quite what you've got hidden from view is anyone's guess. Badly installed pipework can be the cause of blockages, an inspection of the installation would be the only way. So, without a lot more info there's not much I can say.

[crispyhamblin]

Thanks for your reply. I've got some photos and videos of the shower if you have an e-mail I could send it to. I think it's pretty obviously wrong, it's not hidden further along the pipes it is as soon as the pipe starts it essentially stops again. There is no obvious opening for the water to go! I'd love a second opinion though to make sure I'm not going mad or it's some crazy design I've never seen before.

My email is crispyhamblin@googlemail.com if you want to contact me.

[proptech]

If you've got some good pics, why not post them here on the forum. That way we can all see what is going on, (or have a giggle) and who knows, may be of some benefit to others.