Neil.Steiner
Member
[My apologies if I'm using the wrong terminology. When I speak of the drain here, I'm referring to the portion above the tub, not the portion beneath the tub.]
My wife and I had a bathroom remodeled a few years ago, and over time we've noticed that even with the drain stopper closed, the tub drains gradually. (I haven't estimated the rate, but we experience this every time we give our son a bath.) At first I thought that the stopper might be misaligned or perhaps that the o-ring was bad, but upon closer inspection, I realized that there seems to be no plumber's putty between the drain assembly and the hole in the tub, and the water is consequently leaking between the tub and drain.
Surprisingly, there is no evidence of any water damage from this, and I don't have a clear enough understanding of how the actual drain beneath the tub connects to the tub, but it seems that the water leaking out of the tub may have fortuitously made its way down the drain.
I bought a Dumbell tub drain removal tool, but after quite a bit of turning, I hit a spot where the drain pops back down after each revolution. I imagine that it's working its way up on the threads, and as soon as it gets to the end of the threads, it pops back down one thread. That must mean that it's under tension because it's connected to something else, but what? I haven't tried prying with anything because I don't really want to damage the tub or drain finish, let alone damage anything with the actual drain beneath.
At this point, I could probably work the plumber's putty into place, tighten everything back down, clean up, and call it good. But the fact that I wasn't actually able to remove the top of the drain, and the weird tension that it's under make me wonder if I would just be covering up a problem.
Should it be safe to close things back up, or do I need to call a plumber?
My wife and I had a bathroom remodeled a few years ago, and over time we've noticed that even with the drain stopper closed, the tub drains gradually. (I haven't estimated the rate, but we experience this every time we give our son a bath.) At first I thought that the stopper might be misaligned or perhaps that the o-ring was bad, but upon closer inspection, I realized that there seems to be no plumber's putty between the drain assembly and the hole in the tub, and the water is consequently leaking between the tub and drain.
Surprisingly, there is no evidence of any water damage from this, and I don't have a clear enough understanding of how the actual drain beneath the tub connects to the tub, but it seems that the water leaking out of the tub may have fortuitously made its way down the drain.
I bought a Dumbell tub drain removal tool, but after quite a bit of turning, I hit a spot where the drain pops back down after each revolution. I imagine that it's working its way up on the threads, and as soon as it gets to the end of the threads, it pops back down one thread. That must mean that it's under tension because it's connected to something else, but what? I haven't tried prying with anything because I don't really want to damage the tub or drain finish, let alone damage anything with the actual drain beneath.
At this point, I could probably work the plumber's putty into place, tighten everything back down, clean up, and call it good. But the fact that I wasn't actually able to remove the top of the drain, and the weird tension that it's under make me wonder if I would just be covering up a problem.
Should it be safe to close things back up, or do I need to call a plumber?
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