Removing shower drain

[mkirsch1]

I need to remove the shower drain to repair a cracked shower pan. The pan is plastic, an oddball size, and in a location where it can't be replaced without major demolition.

I tried to unscrew the drain fitting with a pop-up plug wrench, but only managed to strip the inside of the drain clean out.

Now the wrench has nothing to grip. It just slips inside the drain fitting.

Does anyone have any tricks to getting the drain apart? I've got plenty of brute force solutions, but I'm hoping someone has something a bit more elegant.

[chaniarts]

perhaps a bit more harder: hold it steady and rotate the house.

[Oren]

I'm not familiar with what a " pop-up plug wrench" is.

If the drain has cross members inside -- looks like cross-hairs for a gun scope ( + ) you can get it out.

Use a pair of channel lock pliers. Place the handles down inside to pipe and then turn CCW. If real tight you can insert a tool, screwdriver in the jaws of the pliers and back the drain piece out.

Let us know!

[HeyBub]

Is it held in with what looks like a screw?

If so, you can try a "reversable impact driver set"

You put the bit in place and whack the sucker with a hammer. The tool is driven down and the bit turns a teeny amount, hopefully taking the screw with it (don't count on that happening, though, or it'll break your heart).

[hrhofmann]

What is this drain over?? Can't you do anything starting in the basement, if you have one?

[mkirsch1]

It's the specialized tool for removing drains, instead of using channel lock plier handles. It has a socket on one end that fits the "crosshairs" and a tuning fork on the other.

The crosshairs broke out when I tried to turn the drain with the plug wrench. That's my problem.

The drain hole is now smooth inside, and there's nothing to grip with my plug wrench, or channel lock handles, or anything...

Right now my only option is to go at it with a dremel and a carbide bit. Grind until the top flange comes off, and replace the drain assembly.

[DerbyDad03]

If I'm picturing this correctly, the existing part on top should have screwed out from the part that's under the pan.

If that's the case, perhaps you can cut a single slit from the outer edge of the top flange in and down along the threads, essentially turning the O shaped part into a closed C, if you get my drift.

Then you could bend the part out of shape to pull it away from the threads.

If you are very careful with the Dremel and a cut-off wheel, you might be able to cut just deep enough to be able to "rip" the fitting along the cut line. In other words, cutting all the way through could damage the pan or the threads on the bottom part of the drain, so be gentle.

[Michael B]

It's not elegant, but I had a similar issue a few years ago. I used my angle grinder with a disc that should have thrown away before because it had gotten so small.

Was able to graze the inside surface a little at a time and work down to where I was just barely grazing the threads. I did it up-and-down so I didn't come back to the same spot till I was sure I wasn't too deep.