Teaser Alert — what does it look like under your shower? — repair completed

Verna

Look under your shower, yes, underneath your T@B. A mechanic’s creeper helps. There is a hard black plastic box secured with lots of caulk and three #2 square drive (Robertson) screws.  Remove the screws and use a metal putty knife to separate the box from the caulk and the bottom of your T@B.




Yup, that’s the box, the three screws and my #2 square drive screwdriver.



Not the best of photos, but you can see where the box was. 



By the way, the hot and cold water pipes are at the outside wall under the tub.



Ah ha!  The bottom of the shower drain, up close.



Another view view of the p-trap under the shower.....ignore the drips of water on the p-trap.....for today......   Be very careful of the plywood edges—the scratches look like two cat scratches from my knuckles to my wrist ;(



P-trap and a side view of the floor. 



Another p-trap view....hummm....more drips of water from the white nut.....





I found a plumber who has a travel trailer and who doesn’t mind working on a camper in my driveway, trying to find the sudden source of a leak from my shower. Appointment is tomorrow. The leak started the last time I camped in early October, well before any freezing weather.

It’s next to impossible to get an appointment at an RV place during winterizing season for the big boys, I’m about 700 miles from the factory (and 3 to 4 tanks of gas), and I figure a plumber is less expensive than the gas to drive to the factory.  Fingers crossed.

And, you can ask my brother, who taught me about plumbing....you break three parts for every piece you replace. I figured I was safe just removing the p-trap, replacing it and making sure the nuts were tight.  I did it, but it didn’t ‘t fix it. I stopped while I was ahead. Give me a 12V circuit or some wood and I’m fine. Do not let me work on plumbing..... please don’t make me work on plumbing

To be continued:

ChanW

Aha. So your brother set you up for this fear of plumbing...

Verna! Electricity is definitely more scary than plumbing!

And the things a table saw can do to body parts? That's scary!

Plumbing isn't all that scary... really!   

Michigan_Mike

It's a simple fix....

Verna

@ChanW, I love my woodworking. Tablesaw, sliding compound miter saw, scrollsaw, router, various Sanders were all used on these, three of my favorite creations. Woodworking can be fixed, but for the life of me, I sure couldn’t figure out what part of the plumbing was leaking under the shower!  Oh yeah, I don’t use a radial arm saw—the scar on my left thumb says I never will—that hurt. 

ChanW

ow!
(beautiful work!)
Way prettier than any plumbing I've ever seen.
Hmmm. Maybe that 'splains it?

Sharon_is_SAM

Wow!  Verna the artist!  I love the birds on the wire.

hymie

Beautiful work!

TerryV6

Wow Verna,
Way beyond impressive diving into a project like that.  I’m a person who has to watch 16 YouTube videos, ask 6 knowledgeable people and find books at the library before tackling a project.  I worked for 25 years as part of a school district maintenance crew working out of a central shop.  I was tasked with a large variety of jobs, ranging from putting up suspended ceilings, tiling floors, building and demo work.  Running cable for phone, cable and security systems was interesting, plumbing never was.  I had too many bad experiences.  One was working on third floor of an old high school, we were tasked with taking out a large section of plaster/lath Wall and cut through a water line.  Mess time...  Another time I spent a day 100 yards down a 4x4 steam tunnel trying to fix/replace a leaking 8 inch pipe.  Kneeling in two inches of hot water with another guy, trying to break an old Union was not fun.. (ended up cutting that section out).  So...  kudos to you.  Kneeling and bowing...
 
Also, I absolutely am impressed with your woodworking.  Beautiful work!  Any sales?

Lastly, power tools can be dangerous for sure.  I had a professor who cut off 4 fingers on a table saw.  He said, bam, done. They all were sewed back on and worked.  

(Wondering if I could some of that fancy scroll work with my table saw...  grin.)

ChanW

Heh! @TerryV6, only if you could rip the walnut boards first, with your drill press!

ChanW

(@Verna, when do we get part 2?)

Michigan_Mike

ChanW said:

Heh! @TerryV6, only if you could rip the walnut boards first, with your drill press!

Is that why my saws-all struggles on the end of those lath boards?  Talk about a lousy-dusty-dirty job!  I'm into Linda's old farm house closet project now and dealing with a ceiling and wall that have drywall offset over the old plaster and lath via the former owners.  What a mess!  

Verna

@ChanW, David, a plumber is scheduled to be here around lunch time.  If he’s a no-show (I hope he shows up!), @Michigan_ Mike pointed out that the plumber’s putty looks like it needs to be replaced.  nüCamp has offered to send out a new p-trap, but I don’t think that is the problem, as I very carefully inspected it yesterday.  I’m just thanking my lucky stars this is the shower and not the toilet........I would drive to Sugarcreek for that!

Thanks all for the compliments on my scrollwork.  I love doing it, but my camping gets in the way. @TerryV6, no recent sales.  Hopefully next summer/fall I can build a knock-down foot-pedal powered scroll saw to take with me on my snowbird Trip. That way I can stay more busy in the winter. I’ve purchased some carving tools for this winter, along with a portable clamping bench to hold the wood. Just enough to keep me busy. 

One more piece of eye candy is Seemore, which was my very first hardwood and my first complex woodworking project.  Mahogan, 300 hrs, bandsaw, table saw, planer, jointer, shaper, drill press, spindle sander, lots and lots of hand sanding, and 7 coats of polyurethane. Made for my niece’s 1st Christmas 37 years ago. It is currently donated to the foundation who will hopefully sell it with the proceeds going to a fallen Police Lieutenant’s family. If not sold by mid-December, I will take him back and keep him in my house until spring and try again. He doesn’t need to stay in an unheated garage for the winter.  (32”tall, 4’ long rockers)

ScottG

ChanW said:

Aha. So your brother set you up for this fear of plumbing...

Verna! Electricity is definitely more scary than plumbing!

And the things a table saw can do to body parts? That's scary!

Plumbing isn't all that scary... really!   

I agree that electricity may be more scary, but electrical work is definitely easier than plumbing--very little to break, no fussy measurements, assembles with just a screwdriver, and electricity doesn't give a hoot whether it's going uphill or downhill!  :-)

(Now fine woodworking--that takes skill!)

Sharon_is_SAM

So Verna, is the box that surrounded the P trap just to protect it?  No damage from the water that was found?

ericnliz

@Verna, beautiful woodworking!!!
I'm right there with 'ya on plumbing though. Seems like every time I've even touched plumbing, it got worse, not better. Now, I pick up the phone after discovering WHERE the leak is coming from, try to make a good access & give the rest of the ordeal over to the professional plumber.

Verna

SAM, other than a bit of discoloration of the plywood from me running a couple of gallons of water through from the shower (that will dry out).

The box is there to protect the p-trap that would otherwise just be hanging down in mid-air.  There were still wood chips from cutting the hole in the floor plus some old tiny spider webs inside the box.  

Dalehelman

@Verna
Back to the plumbing issue. Wow you have already done all of the hard work. All of those parts are just standard drain parts from any hardware store. Should be an easy fix though. Good luck and thanks for all of the great pictures.

Verna

OK, here’s the simple fix that the plumbers did. They just charged me a service call since they weren’t here for more than 15 minutes.

On top of the p-trap is a flexible washer sealing the p-trap from the fitting above it. With all the showers I’ve taken this summer, while parked on asphalt, tracking in grass clippings and leaves and such, the plumbers removed the p-trap, removed some small bit of debris from under the flexible washer, put it back together and the leak was fixed.

They made the comment that because the floor is flexible, it would be easy to get debris under that washer.

So, if you have a shower leak, be sure to look for that flexible washer, rinse it off and then put it back together. If that doesn’t fix it, replace the plumber’s putty that is beneath the silver drain on the inside of the shower.  (The flexible washer did not come off yesterday when I removed the p-trap—it stayed stuck to the fitting above it so I didn’t see it, nor did I know to look for it.)

Now to go get a new tube of outdoor flexible caulk and to look for a teak or bamboo shower mat that I can cut to size to keep me from stepping on the Silver drain.

Fixed!

ericnliz

YIPPIE!

Verna

@Dalehelman, it is all standard plumbing parts, so I was glad I called a plumber who agreed to look at it for me.

You know me and plumbing—we’ve talked about my lack of knowledge, confidence and fear of breaking something. If that flexible washer had come off yesterday, it would have been fixed, but it didn’t so I got a professional explanation of the cause.

Now, to run to Walmart to get a new tube of Goop to seal the box back in place. Yes, I searched for where you purchased Goop and how highly you thought of it!  Thanks.

Verna

I did forget to acknowledge the one very important person who helped me via email. Austin at nüCamp has been replying to my almost daily emails about what to do so I didn’t have to make the trip to Sugarcreek. 

So, when we give you T@B owners advice to contact repairs@nucamp.com, trust me, they will get around to you!

TerryV6

Michigan_Mike said:

ChanW said:

Heh! @TerryV6, only if you could rip the walnut boards first, with your drill press!

Is that why my saws-all struggles on the end of those lath boards?  Talk about a lousy-dusty-dirty job!  I'm into Linda's old farm house closet project now and dealing with a ceiling and wall that have drywall offset over the old plaster and lath via the former owners.  What a mess!  

Many a night I went home chalk white...

Dalehelman

@Verna
i love Amazing Goop, but be careful it does stick really good. So if you think you may need to remove it in the future use it sparingly.

Verna

@Dalehelman, my Walmart doesn’t have Goop any more. I’ll use another product that is guaranteed waterproof, and is removable. I’m glad I checked the Forum while I was here—thanks.

BrianZ

Interesting & nicely documented repair!  Maybe I missed something, but I only have one question...  If the P-trap is inside of a sealed box, how did you know there was a leak in the first place?  Where did you notice water where there shouldn't be any, or does the box have a drain hole?  Thanks.

Verna

@BrianZ, the box with the shiny screw on it is securely covering the p-trap, protecting it from road debris, etc.  After I took a shower each morning for three days, there was water on the asphalt under the T@B, so I knew there was a water leak. It didn’t smell so I knew it had to gray water from the shower. After I got home, I put a 4 gallon jug of water in the shower, with the pit cock open, went to my trusty mechanics creeper and waited a few seconds before water started dripping at the seam of the box next to the I-beam. The wait time told me it had something to do with the the p-trap because it needed to be filled up before it leaked. 

When I removed the box, the inside was dry, still had sawdust from the factory in it and there were a couple of old tiny spider webs inside the box. This meant the water was dripping straight down the I-beam and coming out there. A hole isn’t needed because no water was staying in the box. 

BrianZ

Was picturing a sealed box over the P-trap, which, if designed with a drain hole, would let water escape if any ever leaked.  Otherwise, if box was sealed, seems like it would have filled up.  In any case, good detective work!  Maybe I should hang on to my creeper I haven't used in many years, and cover that shower drain too.  Thanks.

Verna

I never had a creeper until I bought my teardrops. It has one in so handy so many times.