As I understand it, this thing(I learned from the fire dept. today its called a waterman or water watch or something like that) is hooked up to a garden hose and piped through the wall into the crock to start a siphoning action when it gets to a certain level if the pump hasn't come on. If I knew any more I wouldn't have had this problem in the first place. And speaking of free water from outside, we got plenty of that today too, because I guess my DD had turned the "water whatever" lever to off. I had an appt. to meet an appraiser there today at noon, so I got there an hour early to get something out of the basement. Was met by water above my ankles in a basement we've always called the bowling alley. Boxes etc. were floating around for goodness sake! The fire dept. came to pump us out, discovered the "water whatever" had been turned off, and also the float on the pump had broken off (probably why the WW had been running) and was also floating. I'm sick to death of water. A little advice: Never depend on a doctor to check your sump pump. DD is an OB-GYN, and although her dad crassly calls her a plumber, she failed big time on this one. Luckily, though, she had bagged up 30 bags of clothes for pickup by charity tomorrow or I'd be hauling heavy soppy clothes out of the basement forever as well as all the other stuff. Hope y'all had a better day. Sandy

As a functional or performance tip I would recommend anyone that installs a primary linear drain (like shown above*) that looks like this that you trim the grate opening with something like a Butech or Schluter Tile Profile. This keeps most of the shower water from hydrating the thin-set at the drain edge. It keeps the shower drain looking better as well. I recently installed some Butech Edging to a Schluter drain for just this reason. It's hard to see in this photo but the edging is slightly tipped to the drain opening. I installed a thinner profile to the two sides of the tile insert grate as well. Those I kept flat. I clipped the corners of the Butech Profile for weepage reasons and used a re-inforcing mesh to speed up capillary migration under the edging. I do not like the Schluter Grates at all and tossed the one given to me for this shower. This install shows a custom version of a Kerdi Line Drain install - pretty sure they would not like the fact that I replaced all the Kerdi with Laticrete Hydro Ban Sheet Membrane! ;) * I'm guessing this since the tile is bonded directly to the floor with no 1 1/4"-2" mortar layer.

I use something similar to zip it. I have found that I dont need a drain chemical (at least not yet) if I use the zip it. My problem is that my parrot loves to disassemble drains. He has completely taken apart the shower drain. I am sure the screws are in the pipes somewhere. He has also disassembled the vanity drains. He pulled one stopper out and took it apart. The other stopper he wedged in so tight I cant get it out. I am down to one sink. I have already had a plumber fix the stuck stopper once, but Zeek immediately did it again. When the plumbers are working on my addition, I will see they can get it loose again. Zeek also stuffs the sink drains with paper towels, water bottle caps, etc.. I tried to clean the drain out once but couldnt get the stopper out. I gave up and Zeek slid down into the sink and got it out for me! He really needs a job!

Tuckerdc, I don't mind sharing information, it is helpful to others to know what the cost of this stuff is! I am doing a specific roll-in, ADA type shower with a 37.75" depth and 63" width. Walls must move to fit it, but I am NOT going to go live in a nursing home someday simply because I can't be showering at home! The Transolid solid surface walls go to the ceiling. That means I got not just the regular wall kit, but an extension kit. Then I paid more to get two 36 x 96 pieces of the same Transolid solid surface material to cover the ceiling. NO water is getting behind my walls. I will probably have enough 1/4" solid surface material left over to do the entire counter top of my custom made vanity (that will only have a 15 to 18" deep counter), or the wall niche where the medicine cabinet used to be. Or both. I am not sure that I will do that, though. With my shower base with trench drain and wheelchair access, I paid $3099.57. Walls, ceiling, base, trim, adhesive, and all. Shipping was free (or included in the price). HB's beautiful Swanstone walls on one shower and Kohler Choreograph walls in the other can be seen on this thread, along with other solid surface showers:[Kohler Choreograph Thread with Swanstone Photos, too[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/kohler-choreograph-dsvw-vd~3420698?n=216) The photos there of HB's Swanstone shower are better than any photos Swanstone shows you! My shower was originally going to be Swanstone Ice, the same as HB's until I found this Transolid shower pan. I am hoping that Transolid's walls will be a little easier for my contractor to install. They are broken down into a number of pieces and have molding that goes between the regular shower wall and the extension. Here is a PDF that shows Transolid's "Remodel" wall kit, like mine but a bit smaller. They never acknowledge that they sell my ADA one on their website. I was talking on the phone to them, and learned that they do! PDF for Transolid Remodel Wall Kit They also make a product they call "Direct to Stud" for new construction or complete tear-down remodel. I could have used it except for the fact that I am drilling too many holes in it for my plumbing fixtures. This product puts the 1/4" solid surface material on a substrate of aluminum mesh. You do not have to put up drywall to attach the walls to! It cuts out that step. All other solid surface products do use drywall (or your old tile shower or something) as a surface to glue to. PDF for Transolid Direct To Stud wall kit This PDF shows their dome top with three LED lights that you can get in the Direct to Stud line. It really is a nice looking set-up. This Link is a page from the Bath1 website that shows their price on a number of the Transolid, Swanstone, and Kohler Choreograph showers. Bath1 is the only place that Transolid sells their showers and I had never heard of them until I found a video of their shower pan on YouTube. I believe they sell mostly to institutional clients. I am taking a gamble on their product. They seem to have their act together. They respond quickly to email, they talk to their warehouse guys and get back quickly, and they shipped out my shower the same day. Their warehouse guys were the ones who said I should not use the Direct to Stud product if I was drilling all the plumbing holes in it, so they seem to have a staff who knows the product. They talked to my builder and answered his questions about shower pan installation. They just don't seem to be known to the homeowner public. Loves2read, I will post that drain. I have no idea when I will ever see it, as it is inaccessible unless I hire two guys to unload the toilet on top of it and carry all the stuff into the house. I am considering doing that. The room next to the bathroom is nearly empty, since it is going to have a wall moved to enlarge the shower. If Jim, my contractor is coming soon to do that work, I should have it moved. If he is running very late, however, I should have someone else come in and strip wall paper in there, instead. In that case, I would not want my fragile 1/4" shower wall material in there.