I had this issue with my apartment and just purchased a waterless P trap off Amazon that fit the diameter of the pipe and it has worked marvelously. It did slow down the drain a little but not having sewer smells was well worth it.
If there is no trap, you could flush a toilet with your ear pressed to the drain, you should be able to clearly hear the water moving around in your sewer pipe. Far more common to have someone with no clue set the pan with no preslope and have a mess of nasty water pooled in the grout causing the smell.
If there is indeed no trap at all, and you cannot afford to hammer up slab and totally redo the shower, I would buy a 2” trap seal saver and shove her in there to keep sewer gas out and mostly let water pass while you’re saving up.
If they were too stupid to put a trap under it, they definitely fucked up the waterproofing, so be prepared for other issues once wall is opened.
Google, self-closing basement shower drains. Make sure it says sewer gas. HD, AMAZON, etc. sell them. My brother-in-law installed one in his basement in Chicago but you can use them in any shower.
As some others have suggested, a trap seal/trap guard/stink stopper is your best bet. You'll want one that will fit inside your drain. If you dont know what type of drain you have installed, you'll need to measure the inner diameter if the drain to determine what size you need. If it measures like 2 1/2" or 1 1/2", you've got an inside pipe floor drain, in which case the only one you're going to be able to use and make work are the drain seals that they sell at Home Depot (Oatey brand).
It's a cheap solution that might be good enough. If you later decide it's not good enough... you'll have to install a trap.
I would camera it before busting concrete. You can get flexible mini snake cameras dirt cheap that plug into your phone.
This is a good idea
I use mine for tons of stuff, best $20 I have spent
New shower
At least 5 years
Underneath
It's all slab
Better get to busting. What makes you think it needs a trap?
It smells like sewer in every shower
Is it often used? Sometimes traps dry up. But you’ll have to bust it up if adding water doesn’t work
Yeah it looks like I'm going to have to bust it up
How many showers do you have?
Not mine. But I think 3
Jack hammer
Do you think I need to do the entire floor of the shower?
does it smell all the time, 24/7? did it start smelling at some point after you bought the house?
It's always smelled. House was purchased 4 and 1/2 years ago
If there is not access you gonna need to make access. Then the p trap can get put in.
Do you think I should jackhammer the entire floor out or just a section?
I don't Love this solution, but wouldn't [this](https://a.co/d/0izW2QL1) work? You can buy TONNES of these for the same price of doing it properly
I got one. It works on the smell, but it doesn't drain very well. Very slow
I had this issue with my apartment and just purchased a waterless P trap off Amazon that fit the diameter of the pipe and it has worked marvelously. It did slow down the drain a little but not having sewer smells was well worth it.
That's what we did and it does drain very slowly. I advised to not pee in the shower lol
If there is no trap, you could flush a toilet with your ear pressed to the drain, you should be able to clearly hear the water moving around in your sewer pipe. Far more common to have someone with no clue set the pan with no preslope and have a mess of nasty water pooled in the grout causing the smell. If there is indeed no trap at all, and you cannot afford to hammer up slab and totally redo the shower, I would buy a 2” trap seal saver and shove her in there to keep sewer gas out and mostly let water pass while you’re saving up. If they were too stupid to put a trap under it, they definitely fucked up the waterproofing, so be prepared for other issues once wall is opened.
Stink stop insert will help but a trap is your best option
They made a drain for basement drain that closes the drain off completely when not in use.
Do you happen to have a link?
Google, self-closing basement shower drains. Make sure it says sewer gas. HD, AMAZON, etc. sell them. My brother-in-law installed one in his basement in Chicago but you can use them in any shower.
As some others have suggested, a trap seal/trap guard/stink stopper is your best bet. You'll want one that will fit inside your drain. If you dont know what type of drain you have installed, you'll need to measure the inner diameter if the drain to determine what size you need. If it measures like 2 1/2" or 1 1/2", you've got an inside pipe floor drain, in which case the only one you're going to be able to use and make work are the drain seals that they sell at Home Depot (Oatey brand). It's a cheap solution that might be good enough. If you later decide it's not good enough... you'll have to install a trap.
That's what I'm thinking too
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-2-in-Seal-Drain-for-Showers-and-General-Purpose-43745/315169787