Shower waste has dropped?

fredddddddddddd

Hello,

Some time today the shower waste has dropped and after the wife had a shower, created a nice amount of water for us to clean up in the room below

Any ideas how I might fix this? I'm not 100% but surely there should be something that fits on the shower tray (into the recessed part) and screws into the waste (perhaps with some rubber) to prevent it from dropping?

Could this have been just glued/sealed in and its finally given up and dropped?

Apologies the picture looks gross but the shower is clean, honest!

flashg67

Might be wrong, but I don't think  this is the type that has a retaining screw. Try wedging the top part of the drain plug with a screwdriver and try and tighten the fittings underneath. I have had threads fail before, so if this doesn't work, it might need a new waste.

fredddddddddddd

Thank you. Yes you're right it doesn't seem to have the captive nut in the middle to screw something over it.

I've managed to push it up from below, and now the drain plug is flush as it was before. But there doesn't seem to be anything to tighten. What about if i pack underneath the waste pipe with wood, to prevent it falling again, then glue and seal the gap from the top?

If a new waste is required, do you think the tray will need to come out?

ThisIsWeird

I suggest it needs sorting properly, Fred.
The good news is that access looks to be pretty good.
I don't understand which part you said 'dropped' - is it just the central grate, or do you mean the surrounding white collar? If the latter, then I can only see that happening if the corresponding part of the shower tray has broken or crumbled.
If you have a look at shower trays (pics or reality), you'll see that the waste area is recessed, and has a round ledge that the waste's white collar sits on. Ie, the waster cannot pass through the shower, and neither should it be able to 'drop'.
You cannot trust this shower unless you fix it properly. First thing is to remove the existing waste, and see what the actual situation is - any damage to the tray itself.
If you look at your pic, the ridged collar is used to secure the pipe (a P-trap) to the waste, so undo that one first and drop the pipe down. This is normal anti-clock, so you turn that front edge towards the left. If you are looking down on the shower tray from above, you'll be turning this clockwise!
Then there's the larger round collar which appears to have three 'wings' on it for  grip - this is also undone anti-clock.
You should be able to remove all the shower bits. Please post a photo, and we can guide further - if the tray is damaged, fair chance you may be able to fit a larger dia waste, bedding it in summat like Stixall. 
Oh, and shower water isolated in case someone jumps in there...

fredddddddddddd

Thanks everyone!

So it seems the drain plug that has dropped in the 1st photo, should have a "collar" around it, that fits into the recess. The winged plastic nut underneath helps to tighten that up and close the gap, with a seal also in the recess.

Sometime before we moved in, the collar has perished, but the drain plug remaining where it was, due to friction and gunk (ergh!).

Bought a new trap from Screwfix, £10.39 - didn't need to replace the trap, just popped the new drain plug in, tightened it up using the wings from below, job done.

The rubber seal is a bit chonky, so the drain plug doesn't *quite* sit flush, but it's good enough. I can replace this with a thinner seal or something, but thats a job for another day.
Will leave the side panel off for viewing purposes to check for no leaks in the coming weeks.

Also the wife has purchased a "hair catcher" for the plug, after i threatened to show her what came out of the trap after i opened it all up

Thanks again everyone

FreeBear

fredddddddddddd said: Also the wife has purchased a "hair catcher" for the plug, after i threatened to show her what came out of the trap after i opened it all up

I had passed comment about the large volume of blue hair clogging up the plug hole in my bath. Miss A popped pup in the bath (to keep it contained), and it promptly licked all the icky hair up. Sure beats using a plunger and other tools to get rid of the (potential) blockage.

ThisIsWeird

fredddddddddddd said:

Thanks everyone!

So it seems the drain plug that has dropped in the 1st photo, should have a "collar" around it, that fits into the recess. The winged plastic nut underneath helps to tighten that up and close the gap, with a seal also in the recess.

Sometime before we moved in, the collar has perished, but the drain plug remaining where it was, due to friction and gunk (ergh!).

Bought a new trap from Screwfix, £10.39 - didn't need to replace the trap, just popped the new drain plug in, tightened it up using the wings from below, job done.

The rubber seal is a bit chonky, so the drain plug doesn't *quite* sit flush, but it's good enough. I can replace this with a thinner seal or something, but thats a job for another day.
Will leave the side panel off for viewing purposes to check for no leaks in the coming weeks.

Also the wife has purchased a "hair catcher" for the plug, after i threatened to show her what came out of the trap after i opened it all up

Thanks again everyone

Nice job - well done.
Yes, keep access open for a good while! Often worth a sheet of paper under there too, as it should show up any drips.
When you feel like it, you can replace that thick rubber gasket with silicone sealant, but make sure all the surfaces are perfectly clean and dry.
Or, were there two gaskets - one thick, one thin?

danrv

ThisIsWeird said:

fredddddddddddd said:

Thanks everyone!

So it seems the drain plug that has dropped in the 1st photo, should have a "collar" around it, that fits into the recess. The winged plastic nut underneath helps to tighten that up and close the gap, with a seal also in the recess.

Sometime before we moved in, the collar has perished, but the drain plug remaining where it was, due to friction and gunk (ergh!).

Bought a new trap from Screwfix, £10.39 - didn't need to replace the trap, just popped the new drain plug in, tightened it up using the wings from below, job done.

The rubber seal is a bit chonky, so the drain plug doesn't *quite* sit flush, but it's good enough. I can replace this with a thinner seal or something, but thats a job for another day.
Will leave the side panel off for viewing purposes to check for no leaks in the coming weeks.

Also the wife has purchased a "hair catcher" for the plug, after i threatened to show her what came out of the trap after i opened it all up

Thanks again everyone

When you feel like it, you can replace that thick rubber gasket with silicone sealant

Yes. There's also Fernox LS-X to seal and lower the drain fitting into the recess. Ideally a thinner rubber seal if one can be found.

Postik

fredddddddddddd said:

Also the wife has purchased a "hair catcher" for the plug, after i threatened to show her what came out of the trap after i opened it all up

When I clear out our traps I always comment that it looks like my wife was growing a second head down there