Connecting new tub drain

I'm redoing a second floor bath. Replacing tub area tile and tub. There is NO access door to the suppy lines and drain (other side is a bedroom).

Can I install a new tub drain and overflow drain and connect securely without opening the bedroom wall ( or worse the celling below)?

Also because of the weight, what is the incremental difficulty of making the connections if I choose a cast iron vs. a steel tub?

Not starting the demolition until I know how BIG to make the dumpster!

Thanks

tub

Plumbers connect the tubs without opening access all the time, but it takes some precise measuring, and possibly experience to know what to do. As far as cast iron or steel, the difference is in the longevity more than the weight, since you only install it once, but have to live with it until it goes bad. Which with a steel tub may not be too long, relatively speaking.

You are going to have to open the bedroom wall. Make an acess panel. I would go with Americast or some equivalent.

The easiest way to make an access panel is to cut out a very nice square of your drywall and to just replace this same square when you are done. If you do a good job, it should stay in place without too much fuss. If there's a stud or two under it, you can put a couple of screws in there to hold it in place.

Use a dremel or rotozip with a drywall bit to cut it out, so you can set the depth just right. I recently had to cut out a wall to replace a shower faucet in a mobile home, and the toilet vent was pressed firmly against the drywall I was cutting out. Fortunately I had the depth set properly and I just scratched the pipe instead of cutting through it.

Fortunately I had the depth set properly...

Click to expand...

It wasn't due to good fortune, it was good planning...