wetroom drain tip

[olly]

well,theres a funny story to go with this tip.
i had to move here to a disabled adapted home a couple of years ago,already a new wetroom installed.

after about 6wks of using the shower i noticed the water was not going down,after a few days one night while showering it was so bad you could have bathed there right on the floor.
i called my local council who rent the homes and they sent a plumber out.
he said it was blocked with soap and hair and you had to clean it out with hot water and bleach every 3-4wks or so.
well,never having had a wetroom before i did not know this.
do others have to do this also?

anyway,my son refuses to do the job so i do it.
last week when cleaning it out i thought of a great idea of keeping it clean in use and smelling fresh.
after thinking of dish washer tablets or the ones for washing machines which i realised would disintigrate very quickly i came up with toilet cistern bleach tablets that last in water.

so here are some photos to walk you through it.
the first is the drain cover which you can unscrew.
2nd you can see the drain inside.
3rd this is the drain basket you lift out to clean,water fills up in middle then flows through a resovoir? then into drain.
4th basket back in drain with bleach tablet inside.

with the bleach tablet in when water flows in and through the basket into the drain it should keep it all cleaner and fresher.

if you try it let me know how you get on.

 

[rose]

Caroline,

That is such a good idea! I think those drains hold more odor somehow, maybe because they're just bigger so more air comes back into the room? I'm going to try your suggestion. I've not had any trouble with slow drainage or the likes, but every time I color my hair, the ammonia smell lingers for such a long time.

 

[HelenL]

I don't have a drain like that, but I pour boiling water down the kitchen drains on a regular basis... and pouring baking soda and vinegar down your drains cleans them out and the kids love to do that

 

[trfogey]

The only hesitation I'd have in doing this is the possibility of unexpected corrosion in the metal hardware of the drain which might be caused by continuous exposure to the bleach tablet, as opposed to the brief and occasional exposure that the hot water and bleach flush would cause.

Might be a good idea to check your idea with the plumber, just in case. Lots of metals are rust resistant in tap water, but not so resistant to constant exposure to other corrosives.

 

[olly]

hi tfogey.
i did think about that but it should be ok.
the basket is very thick steel,plus the bleech tablet is only small and not too strong.
showering everyday would keep water runnung through .
there are plastic pipes and metal in toilet cisterns for which these tablets are designed to sit in.

rose, have you ever unscrewed yours to look or clean it out?

 

[olly]

actually i have another tip.
with it being a wetroom even though you have an extracter fan it can smell damp most of the time.
you can't use an electric humidifier so i got one were you put the calcium chloride crystal in and it sucks out all the moisture in the air.
the one i got is reusable and you buy refill packets of crystals,but the unit itself was £6.99 and the refills £3.99.
then i found in a pound shop in town packs of two disposable ones,alot cheaper.

been using it for a few months now and it has totally eliminated any damp musty odours.
i found that you do need to remove it from the wetroom while showering and put it back afterwards as it uses it up too quickly if not.
works a treat.

 

[olly]

forgot to add photos.

 

[rose]

No, I've never unscrewed them. The drainage itself is fine. The room does not have a problem with dampness. Central forced heat/air keeps good circulation. The only trouble I have is with the lingering ammonia smell after coloring my hair. It does seem to be specific to this type of drain setup though. I've never had the problem in previous bathrooms. There are two drains in the floor, the larger being about 5 inches across, and I wonder if somehow the left over smell is because it gets trapped between them? Keeker suggested it could be from the drain drying out, I just don't know. But it is an issue. In theory, the chlorine tablet would counteract the ammonia odor, but I guess might not be effective if not actually in contact with it.

 

[Bad Balance]

Actually, my short term memory is playing tricks...thanks to you Olly for this post.

 

[abbas child]

The similar product to Caroline's "Damp Trap" in the US is Damp Rid, I believe. It's done a great job on the lowest level of this house, where the half bath and family room had a lot of moisture in the summer.

 

[KeeKer]

Rose! please don't put chlorine in the drain with the amonia! here is some info I copied!
warning is there to protect you. Household bleach has a chemical formula of NaOCl - that is, one atom each of sodium, oxygen, and chlorine. Its chemical name, for the curious, is sodium hypochlorite. Ammonia has a chemical formula of NH3, that is, one atom of nitrogen and three atoms of hydrogen. When these two compounds are combined, the following reaction takes place:

2(parts)NaOCl + 2NH3 --> 2NaONH3 + Cl2.

Do you see that Cl2 on the right hand side there? This means one part chlorine gas, made up of diatomic (two atom) molecules. It also means that the chlorine gas has been liberated from the bleach, and is quite capable of causing you harm when inhaled!

 

[rose]

Oh... OK, thanks. I actually knew not to combine cleaners that contain the two chemicals. So, what neutralizes ammonia? I wonder if baking soda poured in there would help. Or white vinegar?

Caroline, sorry to take your post on a rabbit trail. But, this problem only arose with the shower room type of drain set up.

 

[BarryG]

Wow Colleen, are you a chemist or what? I too knew about the no chlorine and ammonia mixing (I learned about it from an episode of Ghost Whisperer) but never thought about the actual chemical formula. I flunked high school chemistry twice before I switched to biology which had no math but dd have reproduction, a subject that was (and still is) very interesting to me.

Sorry, a little off topic about floor drains. I need to hire a plumber to fix my shower drain, the shower is turning into a bath.

 

[olly]

no problem diane.............dont go blowing yourself up lol.

barry,that was my problem and the plumber said it needed cleaning out every month or so .

if any of you can get access inside by unscrewing it then do and see if its like mine in pictures above...........let me know.

as regards to damp,i dont think the extractor fan i have fitted is strong enough to deal with the size of the bathroom and two people showering everyday.
i could complain to the council and see if they can do anything...........wont hold my breath.

 

[KeeKer]

Ok Diane, how about this?ammonia is alkaline amd lime is an acid, as we all know acids neturalize alkalines. Lemon or vinegar will work too. Vinegar is the most common product used to neturalize ammonia.
Sorry Caroline. Won't hijack your thread anymore.
Barry, Still can't get Beth to get the gunk out? Also, not a chemist. Ever hear of copy and paste?
Caroline I think you need a stronger fan. Hope that the council will listen to you and help.