Bathtub Drain Tie-in - Help Needed!

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FeelingDrained

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First, I just want to take a moment to thank Terry for this wonderful and informative forum! Although I have some remodeling experience, I have been reading quite a bit over the past few days, and have learned a great deal. Thank you!

Now, on to the problem at hand. Last week we discovered that water was leaking around our tub (a poorly installed insert, hiding a damaged tub and wall, installed by the previous homeowner before we bought the house). By this point, I have torn everything out down to the studs, and replaced any water damaged materials. I am now prepping for a new install in our 3 wall alcove. Since the alcove is large enough, we decided to upgrade to a slightly wider bathtub (previous tub was 30" and new tub is 32"), and as a result, will need to relocate the drain slightly. However, this is where the problem lies.

This tub is on the first floor, directly over concrete slab. There is a round opening approximately 12" where the PVC waste line enters the alcove, vertically from underneath, through a plastic sleeve that was presumably set when the foundation was poured. Whoever installed the previous bathtub cut the vertical drain pipe just long enough to clear the plastic sleeve, and then glued 2 PVC street elbows to the drain, and then glued the tub drain pipe directly to the street elbows. (After re-reading, this may sound confusing, so I've attached a photo to show what I am attempting to describe).

How can I remove the old tub drain, relocate the drain tie-in, and fix this?

Being that the vertical pipe sits at the bottom of the opening in the slab, I can't get a hand saw down in there. With no straight sections of pipe or nipples above that, I have nowhere else to cut or any usable flange to work with. I can't imagine if I cut a street elbow off below the joint that that surface would be usable. What options do I have? Heat gun on the pipe to try and remove (I've heard of others attempting this technique in a pinch, although I know it's not ideal)? Perhaps I could get in below the first street elbow using a dremel with a cutting disk, but I may have to penetrate the plastic sleeve in the foundation to get that low?!

Can someone please tell me the best way to approach this, and how I should attach the new plumbing properly? I'm assuming it'll involve topping the PVC with a trap adapter as well (in order to receive the new tub drain), correct?

Thanks in advance!
 

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