What is a 3 Piece Drain?

A 3 Piece Shower Drain is a shower drain which consists of 3 different pieces that connect to your waste pipe to remove water from your shower.

The 3 pieces are:
-Riser
-Clamping Ring
-Drain Base

Note: 3 Piece Drain has many different names.
-Clamp collar drain
-Clamp drain
-Mortar bed drain
-Traditional shower drain
Regardless of what name is used it has the same 3 piece drain base, clamping ring and riser, which connects together to create a functional drain for your shower. Ebbe calls their 3 piece drain a Clamp Collar Drain.

Drain Base

The drain base is the piece that connects directly to your waste pipe. Manufactures make drain bases look slightly different from each other but the function is the same.

Note: The drain base has many different names.
-drain body
-tailpiece
-drain flange

Regardless of the name, it is the piece of the drain that is secured to your subfloor and connects directly to your waste pipe.

Most drain bases are made out of PVC plastic, ABS plastic, or cast iron. If you have a PVC waste pipe, you need a PVC drain base to connect to it. If you have an ABS waste pipe…you need an ABS drain base.
Note: A cast iron drain is typically connected to a cast iron waste pipe with a clamped rubber fitting or a rubber compression fitting.

How do you know if you have a PVC, ABS, or cast Iron waste pipe?
You can tell which kind of waste pipe you have by the color of your waste pipe.
-A black waste pipe is ABS
-A dark gray or white waste pipe is PVC
-Cast Iron will be made of cast iron and is typically black and rusty

Clamping Ring

The clamping ring connects to the top of the drain base with the provided bolts and serves two purposes.

-The center hole of the clamping ring is an adapter between the drain base and riser. which provides a place for the riser to thread into. (Notice threads in the center hole in the picture)

-The clamping ring also clamps the plastic membrane to make your shower waterproof. Between the clamping ring and drain base

Note: The clamping ring has many different names:
-Clamp collar
-Clamping collar.

Regardless of the name, it is the piece of the drain that clamps the waterproofing membrane and has threads that the riser screws into. There are many different clamping rings from many manufacturers. They may look slightly different but the function is the same.

Note: The clamping ring is tricky to see in pictures on the internet because the pictures show the clamping ring connected to the drain base. (The clamping ring is the piece under the bolts) Therefore, pictures of a 3 piece drain look like a 2 piece drain if you don’t know what you are looking at.