Fixing bathtub drain leak

[K9mlxj]

Hi there,

I have a bathtub drain leak I want to fix (see picture)



I wonder if I should

- use plumber's putty and apply to the underside of the flange on the new tub basket, OR
- use a rubber tub drain gasket instead of plumber's putty
- silicon caulking

This is a cast iron tub. I wonder which one lasts longer -- and easy to fix/replace if leak occurs again in the future.


Thanks.

 

[K9mlxj]

Haven't done this before--

I wonder, is there supposed to be a gasket between the tub shoe and the bottom of the tub? As the picture shows, there is no gasket there visible from under the tub.

Do I drop the gasket in from above after I remove the drain flange, or I need to remove the tub shoe from under and slide it in under the tub and then reinstall the tub shoe?

Also, do I need to ensure where the rubber gasket meets the bottom surface of the tub and the top of the tub shoe are smooth (use sand paper to sand it down if there's rust?)?


And, would I need to apply silicone sealant to the top/bottom of the rubber gasket?

Thanks.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jimbo]

You are going to have trouble with the rust. I would: coat a new gasket with silicone. After setting that and wiping off excess silicone, I would coat the entire area with Henry's 208. I will deny that I ever said that, but it will last at least as long as that tub is liable to last.

 

[K9mlxj]

I wonder how to install the gasket:

Do I need to remove the overflow pipe first?

Right now, I can see the tub shoe is not @ 90° to the overflow pipe. It is tilted downward as it touches the tub bottom. I would need to readjust the overflow pipe's length if I were to install the gasket from under the tub?


Thanks.

 

[Terry]

You can unthread from the top, and then slip the rubber gasket between the tub and the brass. Silicone sounds like a good idea with something that old.
If it were all new, then it wouldn't be needed.

Since this is all open, it might make sense to replace the overflow drain at this point.

A clean rubber washer between the tub and the shoe. A little putty can be used under the flange here, nothing on the threads though.

 

[K9mlxj]

Thx. I need to go under in the crawl space if I replace the overflow drain... .

I wonder if I am to replace the overflow drain set, a brass set is superior compared to white PVC/black ABS-true? I heard PVC/ABS causes drain noise (or it won't matter since it's a very short length?).

What'd be a good brass set someone can recommend?


Also, do I use silicone sealant, or silicone caulking?

 

[Terry]

We mainly replace using solvent weld ABS drains now.
The brass with slip joint can leak.
Noise? It's just a drain. But yes, ABS or PVC in the wall do make noise as the water drains. Not on the tub drain though.
Cast iron pipes are pretty quiet. I've done commerical buildings with those, but not homes.
Steve Balmer has cast in his home.

 

[K9mlxj]

Just wonder between ABS/PVC which type works better for like CA, where there are occasional smallquakes in the year. Would PVC still leak since it's not like ABS where it's solvent welded, or if it's tight enough PVC should still hold good?

Thx... .

 

[Bpetey]

PVC and ABS are both solvent welded, they just use different solvents for each.

 

[Redwood]

It looks from the staining like it is leaking down from the overflow as well.

 

[K9mlxj]

I tried slipping a rubber gasket in and tighten up the drain flange just to see how well that worked. Water leaked thru' the gasket as the rubber gasket caused the tub shoe to tilt downward further, so one side of the gasket was really tight while the other side still showed a bit loose. I did not put in silicone sealant as that was just a test. As I moved the tub shoe around a bit, that caused the lower end of the overflow pipe to start leaking.


I've now got a Watts PVC tub drain:

http://www.amazon.com/Watts-4CP-Pla...1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1297413820&sr=1-2-fkmr0


Like other PVC piping used indoor under the sink, you'd turn a slip nut to tighten up the connection.

I wonder if this PVC kit would suffer the same potential leak problem as the brass tub drain kit, since in both kits a slip nut is used in the connection of two pipe sections.

Is there another PVC drain kit that is meant for welding?

 

[Jimbo]

Go into any hardware store and they will have all the various types of drains lined up on one shelf.

If we have the "big one" in CA, the least of your worries is the tub drain. Otherwise, no worries mate. In many places, either PVC, or ABS, but not BOTH, will be the local material of choice. Not because one is better, but suppliers often just develop a local preference, no particular reason. In the Southern Calif. area it is ABS, you don't find PVC much. I don't know about LA county. That doesn't really count as S. Calif. It is just lala land!

 

[Jadnashua]

There are some tub drains that have some designed in 'give' to ensure the overflow and drain shoe can seal without undue stress on the connections. Often, on those that don't, one or both of the seals are beveled to account for the overflow not being exactly perpendicular to the drain shoe, and on those, you must ensure you get the bevel the proper orientation to get a good seal.

 

[K9mlxj]

Been delayed for a good while. I finally get the time now to replace the bath drain. I am going to use Schedule 40 plastic and glue so no need for slip joints.

I wonder in connecting the 1 1/2" Schedule 40 plastic tailpiece to the 1 1/2" threaded galvanized pipe (see the vertical pipe piece in lower left in the above picture), do I need to use a Fernco shielded coupling for the transition since the Schedule 40 plastic is too thick to fit into the galvanized pipe, or there's anything better?

 

[Winslow]

I would replace the tub drain (waste and overflow). If you have it open and accesible doesn't make sense ti just replace a gasket. Clean the drain hole very good and set the new shoe with silicone. Gererit drains are very good as you will never have any issues with the pop up.

 

[K9mlxj]

Two things I'm running into now:


1. Slanted joint


I just realize that when I change from brass drain pipes to Schedule 40 drain pipes, the positions don't match up to the original galvanized piece coming up from the main cast iron drain pipe. This is because the Schedule 40 pipes are thicker than the brass pipes, and so positions don't align right anymore.


So either I would try to glue the plastics to the Tee at a slightly slanted angle, or I'd need to try to move the cast iron pipe's position--which I'm not sure if it's possible--since that's such an old iron pipe and the threads might all be frozen now.


Question:
Would it be ok if I glue a Schedule 40 pipe to a Tee but it's a bit slanted and not straight at the joint. Would there be possibly leak later on even if I put in enough cement for that slightly slanted joint?



2. The old brass drain pipe's overflow gasket was flat. Perhaps it was 'flattened' during the install of the brass drain pipe to align with the main drain pipe's position.


Now that I'm installing a new drain, the new overflow gasket is fatter on the bottom.

If I were to install the new overflow gasket correctly, it'd further tilt the vertical overflow drain pipe away from the tub at the lower end, causing further misalignment with the cast iron drain pipe below.


Question:
Should I try to press on the new overflow gasket (i.e., flattening it) so it'd align with the cast iron drain pipe's position correctly then? Would the flattened overflow gasket cause leakage at the overflow drain later?

Or there could be another solution to this?


(BTW, the overflow elbow is slightly slanted already.)




Thx.

 

[K9mlxj]

It seems this mismatching of the new drain pipe location to the cast iron pipe's location could be potentially a hack of trouble for me.


I was talking to someone in *********. The guy was a plumber before.

He mentioned that if the joints on the Schedule 40 tee aren't done 100% straight (slanted slightly), there will be leaks later on even if I glue them all tight.

He said that I'd need to move the cast iron pipe to 100% match up w/ the tub drain pipe so everything is lined up 100% straight. That way I won't need to glue the joints on the tee slightly slanted that would cause leaks later on.


Anyone can confirm what he said about the potential leaks from the slightly slanted plastic joints on the tee?


Thx... .

 

[Terry]

The overflow washer can be spun if needed, depending on the slope of the tub. There is no rule that says it can only be one way.

With a glue on W&O, I sometimes installed to end fittings, overflow and shoe, and then glue the tee with sections of pipe to those. The p-trap is the last thing I do.

However, that is not always possible.
In that case, you sometimes build it up from the bottom.

 

[K9mlxj]

Thx for the suggestion. I'm a bit relieved now. I was having lunch a bit earlier and bumped into someone who did commercial mechanical jobs and he suggested that there were other ways to make it work w/o moving the cast iron pipe:


- don't touch the good old cast iron pipe if it's all frozen and hard to move it--it's too old and attempts to change it might break it...
- For the overflow elbow, instead of using the bevel gasket, get a flat rubber piece and cut into a gasket myself. That way it's less offset to the cast iron pipe (how come I can't find a flat gasket for the overflow elbow?).
- Slightly off-angle when joining the pipe sections to the tee is still ok. Cut the pipe end a bit off-angle to compensate so when pushed into the joint the end fits snugly.

BTW, this is how the piping looks right now (off-angle). You can see the piping is slanted to the left.




(the pipe sections aren't glued to the tee yet)

I'll try to find a flat piece of gasket or cut a piece from a flat rubber to help out a bit... .

 

[K9mlxj]

I notice that there's a very very slight leak from the male threaded galvanized pipe end thru' the lower-end of the Fernco Proflex coupling (CP-150, for 1-1/2" CI, PL. or ST. to 1-1/2" PL. ST. or XHCI). I believe I've tightened the screws on the coupling pretty well.



Is the water leaking from the lower end of the Fernco Proflex coupling because it's a male threaded galvanized pipe end I'm inserting into the coupling? Should I try something else?

(The short PVC end from the drain tee doesn't allow me to use a galvanized coupling for a male galvanized to male PVC connection.)

Someone mentioned "No Hub" coupling. Wonder what the difference would be?