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This is the back side of a 40+ year old bath
tub. The overflow tube (the brass vertical pipe) had come
loose from the tub, so water would spill into the crawl space.
This I could see when I first examined the house.
But when I replaced the ancient tub faucet (which had no
shower) with a proper tub-and-shower faucet, I noticed that
the drain was loose where it attached to the tub. But that
wasn't the worst of it...
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| ... The drain pipes had completely separated.
The pipe on the right (red arrow) is a flexible plastic drain
component, and it had completely detached itself from the tub
drain.
The tub had been draining into the crawl space for who
knows how many years!
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To begin my repair, I needed plenty of access to
the area. Since this house has no basement, and a crawl space
that is mostly about 2 inches deep, I decided to cut away this
section of bottom plate, which was rotten anyway. |
| With the bottom plate out of the way, I was able
to more closely inspect the pipes. I could not find a trap in
the tub drain. The red arrow indicates the top end of
the flexible drain. |
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At this point I decided to buy a new tub drain and an S-trap.
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This is the view from inside the tub. How would
you like to take a nice long soak in this? (And the water
contains so much iron that it is looks like dirty dishwater.) |
| I tried to remove the drain basket with a pair
of crossed screwdrivers. There is a tool for this (called a
"basket wrench", I think) that also removes kitchen
sink baskets, but I don't own one. |
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I could not get the fitting to turn. The screwdrivers just bent.
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So I used my reciprocating saw with a short
metal-cutting blade.
I made a cut through one side. |
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With a twist of a pry bar, the drain fitting
came out. |
| The tub drain kit. This PVC kit cost about $14
at a local home center. Brass drain kits are also available,
for about twice as much.
The long rod is the connecting link for the drain stopper.
That whole assembly gets inserted into the overflow tube.
Adjustment of the length of the linkage is important, if it's
too short, the stopper won't hold water. If it's too long, the
water won't drain fast enough, and the drain may tend to clog.
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After I removed the old drain and the old
faucet, I cleaned up the porcelain with a chemical meant to
remove hard water deposits. |
| This is the product I used, called
"Zap". It was purchased at Sam's club for a
reasonable price. The active ingredient is phosphoric acid,
which I have seen in other professional-grade products, and is
very effective at removing mineral deposits. |
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This is the lower section of the tub drain. |
| That lower section fits into the system like
this:
I assembled the drain pipes but did not fully tighten the
slip-joint nuts. |
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After I made a test fit, I had to cut a small
amount from the lower (horizontal) tube. |
| Since I had no helper at the time, I rigged up
some duct tape to hold the drain assembly in place while
installed the components from the inside of the tub. |
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I applied a generous bead of clear silicone
caulk around the underside of the drain basket. This part is
metal, while the pipes are PVC plastic. |
| I also applied a small amount of silicone to the
black rubber gasket (that goes beneath the tub) because I knew
the tub surface was rusty and rough, and I figured it would
never hold water without some extra help. |
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There is a risk with this approach, however. I have had
gaskets get squeezed out of place because the silicone acts like a
lubricant. Care must be taken to not over-tighten the basket.
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I threaded the basket into the drain fitting and
used a pair of pliers to tighten it. |
| I connected the stopper and linkage to the
overflow cover plate.
I tried to estimate the correct length of the linkage, so I
would not have to remove it again later for adjustments. (But
I was wrong.)
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On the back side of the overflow cover plate,
the link attaches to the lever with a simple cotter pin. |
| The link comes in two sections, one of which
threads inside the other to allow for adjustment of the
length. |
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The stopper cylinder attaches to the linkage
with a cotter pin. |
| I applied a bead of silicone caulk to the rubber
gasket that seals the overflow tube to the tub. |
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Down The Hatch:
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I inserted the stopper linkage assembly into the
overflow tube. It is necessary to slightly flex the linkage to
make this fit. (Plastic is easier than metal.) |
| I installed the screws that secure the cover
plate to the overflow tube. |
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The back view of the above photo.
The black rubber gasket is squeezing out on the left side.
This problem is amplified by the slippery properties of the
silicone. If I tightened the screws further, I'm sure I could
make this gasket leak.
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| The lower end of the drain assembly. The stopper
lies right at the "T" junction, and blocks the water
in the horizontal tube from reaching the vertical tube. |
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I installed the drain cover. |
| The new drain and overflow are complete.
I later bought cover plates for the old faucet holes. |
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These cover plates were installed with the
assistance of... more clear silicone caulk. See
that brief article. |
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Tools
Used:
- Basic Hand Tools
- Small Saw
- Caulk Gun
- Reciprocating Saw
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Materials Used:
- PVC Tub Drain Kit
- Clear Silicone
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