Replace a drain elbow gasket below an iron tub

[llivshi]

Hi,

I have a leak from the tub drain, and I can see that the gasket between the bottom of the tub and the top of the waste elbow has deteriorated. How do I replace it? How much of the drain/overflow assembly do I need to take apart?
There is very little room to maneuver.

Showerless,

Leo.

 

[Terry]

The chrome drain in the tub side should unthread, then you can slide a new rubber washer in there and use some putty on the top side, below the strainer.

This should be able to be done from inside the tub.

Unless of course, the leak is somewhere else on the waste and overflow.
If that is the case, it may need replacing.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[llivshi]

gasket is underneath the tub

The chrome drain in the tub side should unthread, then you can slide a new rubber washer in there and use some putty on the top side, below the strainer.

This should be able to be done from inside the tub.

Unless of course, the leak is somewhere else on the waste and overflow.
If that is the case, it may need replacing.

Thanks for the advise Terry.

I did do this first. The gasket is on the underside of the tub, between the tub and the elbow. It is squeezed in there but not evenly all around (it has deteriorated in several places), so I cannot get it out without destroying it completely. If I destroy it I will probably not be able to slide another one in, (right?).

I thought of stuffing some putty in from the top side to "rebuild" the gasket, but I am not sure whether this is reasonable.

Also, there is no strainer in there. Is there always a way to put it in?

Still showerless,

Leo.

 

[Jimbo]

Putty will not work as the gasket under the tub. True the old one is brittle and will break up when you take it out. But you should be able to clean up the flange and the new, supple gasket can be slid in from the top. This is done all the time. Sounds like your flange is in bad shape, so replace it. Take the old one to a supply house with you, because there are several different threads and styles.

 

[llivshi]

Putty will not work as the gasket under the tub. True the old one is brittle and will break up when you take it out. But you should be able to clean up the flange and the new, supple gasket can be slid in from the top. This is done all the time. Sounds like your flange is in bad shape, so replace it. Take the old one to a supply house with you, because there are several different threads and styles.

Aha,

Sounds promising, if I could only figure out how to remove the flange (I assume this is some part on top of the elbow, but I don't see it on the diagram Terry has included with his reply). Can you advise?

 

[Plumber1]

tub leak

Sounds like some of the hardened old gasket is still there. If you can get to it from the access door, just use a plane hack saw blade and carefully remove the pieces.

Or make a tool to do it from the inside of the bath tub. Might bend something to do the job. Try not to wiggle the shoe and loosen the seal at the jam nut at the tee. You can work a new washer in through the opening at the tub drain.

 

[Jimbo]

The flange is index # 9 in the picture. It is the piece you see inside the tub. I assumed you had already removed this, as of course there is no way to replace the gasket until you take it out. It unscrew from the top. There are a variety of spud wrenches available to so this.

 

[llivshi]

the bad gasket is on the underside

The flange is index # 9 in the picture. It is the piece you see inside the tub. I assumed you had already removed this, as of course there is no way to replace the gasket until you take it out. It unscrew from the top. There are a variety of spud wrenches available to so this.

The flange is actually in great shape, nice and smooth. The gasket under it is also fine. The one I see crumbling is a gasket on top of the elbow on the underside of the tub. It is not pictured on terry's diagram.