Re-Installing Same Bathtub

[dankoos]

I have a deep tub that sits into a hole in a tub "deck". I wanted to replace the tile on the "floor" of the deck and also on the walls around the tub (there is not shower). Several tiles had broken. Once I got the old tile off, there was a bunch of mold on the roofing board that made up the tub deck..it was really soft as well. There were two layers of 3/4" board, so I just removed the first layer..bottom layer was fine. I am currently in the process of installing a new layer of decking.

My question is two-fold for when re-installing the same tub (the tub itself was in fine condition).

1. When re-connecting the water supply, can I transition from copper to plastic before connecting to the faucet? I had to cut away the original plumbing because the old fauced just didn't want to come off. Using a "roman style" faucet. I was introduced to those "shark bites" which I could use for this transition.

2. When we took the tub out after disconnectinig the water supply lines, the drain from the tub, including the overflow, came right out of the P-trap that was sitting in the floor. So my tub is out but all the drain plumbing to the tub is still connected. The P-trap has threads on the top of it with a plastic nut already on it. Does the drain assembly from the tub just sit inside of that P-trap? What keeps it from leaking? Should I remove that nut from the P-trap? I have access to the drain from a hole in the wall, but it is tight...my plan was to just set the tub back into the deck..set the back of the tub in first and while a friend is sliding the front down I will reach in the hole and make sure the drain lines up w/ the P-trap.

Thoughts?

[jadnashua]

Plastic may have a smaller ID, so you may lose some volume capacity.

The nut compresses a tapered washer that makes the seal around the outside of the pipe. If it wasn't tightened enough, or has degenerated some from age, it may not have kept a good seal.