How Much It Costs To Install A Shower Drain Yourself

If you are in the middle of a bathroom remodel, are always having to unclog the shower drain, or if your shower drain smells like sewage and you are tired of it, you may be ready to install a new one. This is a process by which you can hire a professional plumber, but by doing the work yourself, you'll save on labor costs, meaning you only have to worry about the price of the drain itself, the tools you need, and any requirements to replace segments of the sewer line that run underneath the shower. Ultimately, the materials you need for this type of job should cost $100 or less. The price of the tools you need could be $100 or more.

Labor costs for hiring a pro can be around $300 for a basic job that takes about 2.5 hours. For a more complex job that takes several hours, your cost to hire the plumber will increase quite a bit. Of course, the cost to hire a plumber will differ greatly depending on where you live. Plumbers charge anywhere from $45 to $150 per hour. Before deciding whether to do the shower drain replacement yourself, you may want to ask a few local plumbers for an estimate. You can then weigh whether it's worth doing the work on your own.

When replacing a shower drain, you have separate costs for materials and tools. You often can purchase a replacement drain kit for the shower that also contains all of the connectors and fittings you need to secure the new part in place. You can buy one such kit priced around $50 at Lowe's. Should you want a shower drain kit that has high-end materials or finishes, you could pay $100 or more, like this option from Home Depot. You also may pay more if you have an odd-sized drain pipe diameter in the shower. The kit should have the remainder of the connection items you need, including connectors and fittings, as well as hardware to mount the drain. If you need to buy connectors and fittings separately, expect to pay around $40.

If you only need to replace the cover because the old one is broken, Home Depot has one for $5. It may simply clip into place, so you don't need extra tools or materials, either. Should you need to replace a section of the sewer pipe as well, the complexity of the project increases. Expect to pay up to $7.50 per linear foot for PVC sewer pipe. You may need a can of PVC primer and cement to secure the PVC and to make it watertight, which can cost around $10. You also may need to go into drywall to fix an issue, increasing the cost quickly.

Depending on the complexity of the installation of your shower drain, you may need anywhere from one to several tools. For the most basic job, you may only need a screwdriver, which you probably already have on hand or could purchase for around $5. It's more likely that you will have bolts or a drain nut holding the fixture in place. If so, you'll need channel lock pliers or a socket set. If you don't already own these tools, the channel pliers should cost around $20 on Amazon. This socket set at Lowe's costs $60. For complex shower drain replacement jobs where you need to cut some of the PVC sewer pipe or install new PVC, you may need a hacksaw to make the cut, which costs $15 on Amazon.

One of the advantages of hiring a plumber is that the pro has all the tools necessary. If you need to purchase a lot of tools to do the work, you may find that the professional can do the work more cost-effectively than you can. This can be especially true if you may only use these tools for this DIY job and never use them again. We also should note that performing this type of plumbing work on your own can be challenging. You could end up with water damage if you do the work incorrectly, whereas a pro provides a guarantee.