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[daiyinchi]

Hi everyone,

I could use some advice on a situation with a guest at our rental property. The guest is recovering from surgery and contacted us because the shower drain isn't working as quickly as she'd like. We stopped by the apartment to check and confirmed that it's not clogged, just slow-draining.

The guest explained that the slow draining is inconvenient because she needs to pee in the shower and doesn't want to step in it. We offered her a full refund for the remainder of her stay, but she declined and instead asked if we could install a step in the shower to avoid standing in the water. However, we believe this could be a serious fall hazard, especially given her recent surgery.
Has anyone dealt with a situation like this? How would you handle it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[oldpin]

If your shower is draining so slowly that a guest is standing in water while showering, something is wrong and it needs to be fixed.

Clean the drain, snake it, draino it (suggest the "Instant Power" black bottle from Home Depot..but it needs maintenance.

The peeing is a non issue since the shower should be completely cleaned between guests anyway.

[xinh12]

If the shower is draining so slowly that a stream of pee backs up, there is definitely a clog or hair or tree roots are caught up in the pipes. There is no way it can keep up with draining when the shower head is running.

Snake it yourself or call in a plumber or handyman to snake it. I had an issue in a 100+ year old house where it wasn't the drain itself, but the pipes that join to the city. They were completely clogged with tree roots.

[ChrisFromTheOC]

I mean.. sure, it's kinda weird that she TOLD YOU that she pees in the shower. But plenty of people do (myself included) and it's really not anymore unhygienic than dirty feet or buttholes or armpits or any of the other bacteria-laden body parts involved in a shower.

You need to fix the drain. A slow-draining tub that causes standing water is a hazard.

[anothernguyen]

Is it permanently slow-draining? If every guest is standing in water while they're showering that seems like something that should be fixed regardless like everyone is commenting. Also, I'm sure many people are peeing in your shower.

[CreepyFloor]

Terrible idea to install or put anything temporary in the shower. Fix the plumbing issue ASAP.

[civiljump]

Pee isn't unhygienic. But you do need to snake the drain or use Drano or something. Shower drains can get plugged pretty quickly with hair. You need to run the water full on for a minute on a regular basis as part of your cleaning routine to make sure it's flowing fast enough.

Worst personal shower incident for me was when I had a bad case of the flu 25 years ago. I was showering and what I thought would be a fart was uncontrolled diarrhea. The smell alone made me vomit. All that combined with hot water for maximum odor potential. I just stayed in there and let everything run down the drain, eventually using the hand wand to rinse the sides and myself before soaping up and starting again.

Luckily that drain worked well. After that I didn't worry too much about a little pee.