A leaking bathtub drain presents a great disaster in your bathroom. I have had an experience with a leaking bathtub drain and it wasn’t good. I have experienced this problem at my rentals and house. You can imagine the feeling when the whole bathtub dirt starts spilling on the floor. Because you will always want to keep your bathroom sink and the entire bath clean, this condition won’t rhyme with your expectations.
What can you do to fix a leaking bathtub drain? But before you arrive at this stage, what causes a leaky bathtub drain? Start by identifying the problem and go ahead to find the solution. In most cases, the seal holding the drain and the tub might get old and it will no longer bridge the two well. As a consequence, this will result in the leaking of the bathtub drain.
If you suspect that you have a leaking bathtub drain, you need to find a means to fix it before it causes some damages. In this regard, you need to understand the exact procedure that can be used to fix the leaky bathtub drain. People will explain to you several ways that you can use to fix this. I will be precise and give you a working solution in this post.
How To Fix A Leaking bathtub Drain
You will start the repair by finding the exact location where the leakage is happening. Before you start the inspection process and consequently the fixing of the leaking bathtub drain, here are the requirements that you need:
- New fixture
- New pipes
- Pipe Dope
- New compression joint
- Paper towels
- Channel lock pliers
- New washers
- Shoe removal tool
- Mastic putty
- Flashlight
- A helper
- Paper
- Drain stopper
My point of emphasis is that you should only fix what is malfunctioning and this explains the reason you need to locate the exact location where the leak is happening. Take your time to study the problem well and the entire idea will prove cost-effective. You can now start by putting the drain stopper in the tub and then filling it halfway with water. Lay a few pieces of paper on the pipes that are located around the leaky zone.
As you shine the flashlight around this area to find which pieces of paper become damp, you need the helper to remove the stopper. If the pieces of paper become moist, this confirms that there is an issue with the bathtub drain. Trace the dripping back to the source and you will be able to find the exact spot where the leakage is happening.
How To Reseal The Leaking Bathtub Drain
Now that you have identified where the leakage is happening, this is time to reseal it. Sometimes, the seal holding the drain to the bathtub gets old and will start malfunctioning. If this is the case, you will need to reseal the connection between the drain and the bathtub. Before you decide to replace the fitting at the base, reseal this connection.
Depending on where the leak is happening, you might need the shoe removal tool if the leak is happening at the tub shoe which is much deep in the drain. The shoe removal tool will pull out the tub shoe. Armed with the plumber’s putty, apply it around the bottom area of the tub shoe and reinstall it back to its position.
If the washer between the tub and the actual tub shoe is damaged, you have to replace it. You don’t want to fix the leaky bathtub drain only to realize that your efforts were not enough to eliminate the problem. After tightening and securing the shoe, wipe out any putty that pushed out. Now that you are through with resealing of the drain, fill halfway the bathtub with water and check whether the drain pipe has stopped leaking.
If you can still witness more leaks, you need to tighten all the joints. Any ill-fitted joint will result in a leaking bathtub drain. Check all the washers around the drain area and ensure that none of them is damaged. If any of the washers is damaged, consider replacing it. After tightening all the joints, test whether there is any leakage. But before this, all the joints need to be dry to avoid wetting the pieces of paper unnecessarily. If the problem of the leaking bathtub drain is still unresolved, this might be the time to replace the entire joint.
As you do this, you need to understand that the problem might be around the waste lining. If the waste fitting has an issue, remove it from the area beneath the bathtub. Since the problem regarding the waste fitting might be complicated to you, you can call a plumber at this juncture. But a simple leakage problem will have been resolved before you start thinking about the waste fitting.
You now know how to resolve the leaking bathtub drain challenge. However, you need to understand that getting the best service from a bathroom sink starts by picking out the utmost quality from the market. When you are buying a bathroom sink, you need to always consider its quality. Buy the best quality bathroom sink based on material and other key factors. If you do this, you won’t experience a lot of problems when you are expecting to reap the services from the bathroom sink.
Conclusion
Fixing a leaky bathtub drain is something that you can do it yourself. You don’t need to call a plumber to fix it for you. If you have read this material carefully, you have noticed that it won’t require you a whole lot of time to fix the leaking bathtub drain. You will commence by inspecting the precise location of the problem. After that, you will need to find the right tools and requirements before you start fixing the issue. After you have assembled every requirement, you will start the fixing process which is quite easy. If you like this material, share it with your friends.