How To Repair Bathtub Drain
One of the worst feelings you can get equally a homeowner is when y'all meet a watermark on the ceiling below a bathroom.
The next thought that crosses my listen is how much this footling water issue volition toll.
This verbal problem has happened to me numerous times at my ain business firm as well as at my rentals.
The latest consequence I encountered dealt with a bathtub leak into my rental'due south dining room.
Fortunately the dining room has a dropped ceiling (classy, right!) and the panels aren't hard to replace.
Merely I wanted to solve this leak trouble ASAP and this tutorial deals with that process.
Here are the supplies you need
- Screwdriver
- Plumber'south Putty or
- 100% Silicone Caulk
- Tub Drain Removal Tool
- Tub Drain Extractor Tool for 1.5″ Drains or
- Drain Key for Unlocking or Installing Drains
- Channellock Pliers
- These Amazon links assistance support Home Repair Tutor, many thanks for using them
How to Inspect for Leaks
The beginning action I took was to remove the access panel to the bathtub waste and overflow pipes.
And then I checked for leaks. Possible leak locations are
- The showerhead and shower arm connectedness
- Shower arm and shower pipe connection
- Leaks getting behind the shower escutcheon plate that covers the shower faucet handle
- The faucet torso backside the faucet handle
- Shutoff valves (if you have any to the shower or bathtub)
- Bathtub overflow gaskets or washers (usually accessible in the access panel)
- Overflow pipe & cover plate, drain T, drain tailpiece, waster drain tube connections
- Drain flange, gasket, and shoe tube in the bathtub
- P-Trap and branch bleed connections
- Hot & Cold supply line water connections
By the manner, if y'all want to install shutoff valves it's actually easy to do with SharkBites.
I ran the water and adamant the leak wasn't coming from any of the shower faucet connections or from water splashing behind the escutcheon plate.
Besides, in that location were no leaks from the common cold and hot h2o lines.
The next step was to fill up the bathtub simply below the overflow encompass plate.
Since my tenant takes baths and said the leak is wearisome I decided to see what would happen in one case the tub was full of water.
Remarkably no leak occurred when the tub was filled.
But when the water drained that's when a slow trickle formed from underneath the shoe tube connexion.
This leak was coming from the drain flange/gasket/shoe tube connection.
How to Get to the Bleed Leak
I removed the strainer screen and looked at the drain flange.
Employ a screwdriver to remove the bathtub strainer screen and drain cover plate.
And then remove the bleed using a special wrench that attaches to the drain arms.
You can also use a pair of channel locks to remove the drain flange past inserting the handles down into the strainer handbasket.
But I prefer the strainer wrench because it's sturdier.
Once the strainer wrench is down in the drain y'all can employ either a screwdriver (inserted through the wrench holes) or channel locks to loosen the bleed flange.
Merely plow the bleed wrench counterclockwise.
What if your strainer arms are broken?
If that'southward the case using either a tub drain extractor tool for one.v″ drains or a drain key tool. We got a lot of questions about this trouble downward in the comments. And so these tools are the solution.
Once the drain flange/strainer handbasket was removed, I turned it over to observe the plumber's putty was missing in one section.
How to Fix a Bathtub Drain Leak
Fortunately, I e'er have plumber'due south putty in my toolbox (it's amazing how oftentimes yous need this stuff!).
You tin can get this product at whatsoever hardware store or on Amazon.
Lamentable for the vivid picture beneath.
The actual leak was occurring in between the gasket that sits on summit of the bathtub shoe tube and the bathtub bleed hole.
The gasket can exist seen in the moving picture below as a black ring.
And the bathtub shoe tube is the threaded section straight beneath the black gasket.
The leak occurred because the bathtub can flex when someone is standing on it or when excessive h2o weight exerts downward pressure repeatedly over time.
So the gasket seal can fail do to normal expansion and wrinkle forces.
I placed a generous dewdrop of plumbers putty on the drain flange such that the putty sealed the entire black gasket.
The next step I took was to clean off the erstwhile plumber's putty on the bathtub itself too as any left within the bathtub shoe tube.
Now that everything was clean I inserted the drain flange back into the threaded bathtub shoe tube and tightened it with the drain wrench.
When y'all do this the plumber's putty with be squeezed effectually the bathtub shoe tube gasket and create a flexible water-tight seal.
I made certain to clean off the plumber'southward putty that oozed out from the drain flange.
At this betoken, I put the bathtub strainer screen back onto the drain flange and filled the bathtub until the water level reached the bottom of the overflow cover plate.
No leak!!
I then let all the water drain to see if the downward pressure would cause the leak and again I didn't see whatsoever water coming from underneath the bathtub shoe tube.
The sweet smell of success or in this case plumber's putty.
What's Side by side
If y'all're doing a bathroom remodel and need help, join ane of our online courses – they'll make your bathroom renovation much easier!
Let me know if you have whatsoever questions and I'll exercise my best to assistance.
Thanks as always for reading, watching, and being part of our crawly community.
Cheers,
Jeff
Bathtub Bleed Repair
Source: https://homerepairtutor.com/bathtub-drain-repair/
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