tub drain questions and pic

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Jeremytl

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Hi,
I posted a thread on this tub last year. We decided it would be too much trouble to replace so we are going to try and refinish. But first off, the top part of the tub drain that has the lever, not sure what its called, is so old and worn. It no longer makes a seal and water is getting behind it and dripping beneath the tub/house. I crawled under the house to see what the water was hitting and it must have been happening for years b/c the previous owner cut out the floorboard wood so the water would just drip into the crawlspace. I want to replace it and am wondering if I can just replace this part or do I have to replace the whole tub drain assembly? The rest of it works fine.
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Jadnashua

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The drain assembly parts are not always generic, so trying to find a compatible replacement may be tough to impossible. What's probably happened is that the gasket behind that assembly has disintegrated. You can probably find one of those. They often are tapered to allow you to position it to best make a parallel seal with the part on the back and the tub wall. then, it needs to be tightened up to seal to the tub. You may want to replace the entire overflow/drain assembly. Your results on refinishing the tub may be good, but it is tough to get a good result that lasts very long. For the cost of that, replacement sometimes is cheaper.
 
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Dunbar Plumbing

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They make replacements but I would advise using the plunger at the end of this linkage that seals the water off inside this drain.

It is made in close tolerance to the innards of your drain assembly and replacements usually allow water to bypass, meaning not hold water in the tub while bathing.

Very easy to switch the bottom part of the assembly in this fashion.
 

Jeremytl

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right gasket?

I picked up this gasket today at the big box store and as usual, there was not an associate around to help me. I snapped a couple photoss of it to post. Its supposedly a "clip on" gasket. Please take a look and tell me which side of it goes towards the inside of the tub. Thanks much!

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Terry

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Since you can get underneath, it would make more sense to just replace the whole drain assembly.

However, the parts you have may work too.

A new drain would have guaranteed a good seal though.
 

hj

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THAT gasket may not work because it is designed for a specific drain assembly. The side with two ears goes THROUGH the tub and the four ears go over the overflow fitting. You NEED a "beveled" sponge washer that you can rotate between the fitting and the tub until you find a spot where the gap between them is a constant size. You might also consider changing the drain outlet to a "push/pull? version with a plain overflow plate. An easy task for a plumber, might be daunting for a DIYer, however.
 

Jeremytl

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I finally got some time to work on this. The directions on the tub overflow washer package say
remove overflow washer from behind the tub. Well I can get UNDER the tub, but I cannot get behind it without taking out the drywall. When I take off the face plate and linkage, I cann see the overflow pipe and it is hard against the back of the tub. I'm not sure I could pull it away from the tub even if I could get behind there. Do I have any other options? What about a gasket made for under the faceplate that can be installed between the faceplate and the inside of the tub?

The purpose of the gasket itself is to prevent water from leaking through the overflow faceplate and down behind the tub, right? What if we don't ever fill up the tub, then we eliminate that possiblility. Thoughts?
 

Cacher_Chick

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If all you care about is stopping the leak you could plug off the overflow altogether. If you have kids in the house I wouldn't chance it.
 
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