Flexible accordion tub drain buried in concrete slab
Flexible accordion-style tub drains are sometimes improperly installed and buried under concrete ground-floor slabs, leaving homeowners with no way to fix clogs or drainage issues without extensive demolition. Because digging up the concrete is often the only available solution, people are forced into destructive remodeling work just to service a faulty drain line.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Chipping up the concrete to remove the flexible drain and replacing it with standard PVC or a freestanding tub drainDid this help you?
- 2Running a new line above gradeDid this help you?
- 3Installing a condensate pump at the unit to discharge water elsewhereDid this help you?
- 4Using a septic d-box if keeping the line in its current locationDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So, my neighbor called me over because his bathtub wouldn’t drain.”source ↗
“Digging it up and out of the concrete is my only idea. This tub is located on ground floor, so yes it’s all concrete.”source ↗
“My tub came with one of those. Should be criminal.”source ↗
“My condensate line was installed under the grade and clogs with gunk regularly and is hard to maintain (dirt regularly covers it).”source ↗
“I've been looking at trying to install a drain for it but there's some kinda wire by it that makes me nervous to dig there.”source ↗
“The drain line is by the wet spot. It's rubber unfortunately and not the easiest to work with.”source ↗