Best Plumbers putty

[Rsmith99]

I am installing a new acrylic tub. The drain hole is a little off center and my first atempt to seal the drain failed. I put a lot of putty under the chrome drain before I screwed it in.

I am using Oatey putty. Is there something better?
Should the rubber gasket under the tub have any sealer on it?
Is there a trick to making sure it doesn't leak?

Thanks!

 

[Howard M Emerson]

I think you may be able to glean a little insight into 'too much putty' from my recent experience, discussed here in this thread:

https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20475

Hope it helps.

HE

 

[Sponsor]

 

[TorontoTim]

What does the drain manufacturer say to install with?

I installed a Kohler drain into my Kohler acrylic shower, and was instructed to use silicone, not putty. I've since read that putty is not typically used in acrylic tubs/showers, due I think mainly to the potential for staining.

Not sure if there's any more to it than that, and if you should expect a good seal with putty on acrylic. Not sure if acrylic is a lot smoother and harder for putty to seal against than a china sink or enameled tub.

 

[Redwood]

On some surfaces there exists a possibility of the oils in putty staining the surface of what they are installed on. There is a putty that I have been using for some time now that is non-staining and can be used on any surface. Hercules Chemical makes it, and it is called Sta-Put Ultra.

2 factors can be contributing to your lack of success with the tub drain.
First is the off center drain. That needs to be fixed.
Second is it sounds like too much putty may be being used.

The actual leak sealing is done by the rubber gasket under the tub. The putty or silicone rtv prevents water from leaking from the tub into the drain. A putty or silicone leak will only allow the tub to drain. It will not be an external leak.

 

[Rsmith99]

Leak sealing

I don't understand your last paragraph.

You say "The actual leak sealing is done by the rubber gasket under the tub. The putty or silicone rtv prevents water from leaking from the tub into the drain. A putty or silicone leak will only allow the tub to drain. It will not be an external leak"

I beleive the rubber gasket is only used to snug the drain against the uneven surface of the fiberglass on the bottom of the tub. The putty or silicone prevents water from seeping around the rim of the drain. Water seepage around the rim will never find its way into the drain itself. This is a bathtub, not a shower.

If the rubber seal could be made to seal the bottom of the drain, that would mean that water was always seeping into the edge of the fibergalss/acrylic causing it to weaken over time.

 

[Redwood]

The rubber seal is what prevents leakage of water from the drain into the area below the drain whether it is a ceiling, crawlspace, basement, etc.

Any leakage past the putty will go down the drain not past the rubber gasket. This is the same situation as a lav. sink pop up assy. where the rubber mack washer is the actual seal that prevents external leakage. The tub flange uses a straight thread and will not stop water leakage.

You are getting a bad connection at the rubber gasket. That is your problem!

 

[TorontoTim]

In the case of my Kohler shower drain, the seal between the chrome drain body and the top-side of the shower pan does prevent external leaks, and is sealed with silicone as per Kohler instruction.

I too have a tiny tiny leak - about 1 spoonful of water every few days - the water evaporates out of the little tupperware container I have sitting under the drain between showers (opened the ceiling from below).

I will be re-setting my drain once the tub is installed next week so I keep a bathing facility active I may look at this non-staining putty, but will probably stick with the silicone as it's my own fault the drain is leaking - a little off center and just wasn't liberal enough with the silicone I guess.

There is a foam gasket on the underside, but that just keeps the big nut from grinding on the underside of the base. There are no weeping holes to allow water that gets past the drain body/shower pan joint to drain into the drain pipe - maybe I should drill some

 

[TorontoTim]

Pics

 

[Redwood]

The shower drain is a different animal! With shower drains and kitchen sink drains the putty is providing the seal that keeps water from leaking out as well as the drain pipe connection.

With a tub and lav sink the rubber seal is doing the work.

 

[TorontoTim]

See, I knew I'd learn something today! I'll have to examine the drain for my clawfoot tub closely to make sure it goes in correctly. Acrylic clawfoot. I presumed it would be the same sort of drain as the shower, and actually think it might be at the end of the day.

This is the sort of drain that's going on my acrylic clawfoot. I'm sure drop-in tubs are likely different, but this seems to need a seal on the inside of the tub unless there's some mechanism for water that gets past that seal to be drained.

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Hercules but hard to find locally for me.