Bathtub drain not holding water.

Hi, hoping I can get some advice on how I might repair my tub drain plug. It no longer holds water in the tub. I've seen advice on the drain style with the lever at the overflow cover but mine is strickly a pop-up. Press down to seal, press again to release. I'm not sure how to disassemble this in order to adjust, clean and replace gaskets as needed. There are no visable screws and the plug doesn't seem to want to turn, any tips or advice would be great.

Thank you in advance!

They remove 1 of 2 ways.

#1 try twisting the whole thing counter clock wize and see if it unthreads.

#2 If that doesn't work the silver,brass, or brushed nickle top pops off to reveal a large slot that will unscrew with a flat screwdriver.

Then you can go to a big box store and buy a replacement.

Hi,

I have the same problem with both of my bathtub drains. But since the brass is tarnished and peeling, I decided to buy a replacement. Problem is I can't remove the drain flange, and I don't want to whack at it for fear of cracking the tub.
- How do I break the seal and replace the ugly old flange?
- Do I need to buy a special extractor-type tool?
- And then what kind of silicone/putty should I use to install the new drain?

I'm replacing it with Watts "Ezy Touch," and the tub is ceramic (I think). Thanks for any advice.

Don't even try to replace it unless there is a way, and you are ready, to replace the whole waste and overflow, and possibly the tub if it is rustsd out.

Gaining access could be difficult and/or costly depending on how the tub is situated such as being backed up to kitchen cabinits on a slab or 2nd floor with no access pannel or back to back tubs and others.

I have seen many steel tubs that were just going to get a new waste and overflow and when the old one was removed there was nothing or not enough to attatch a new drain on to due to rust.

There is a tool for removing the drain flange but they don't always work and could make things worse.

Use plumbers putty.

Are you on a basement?

Thanks for the advice. It's in an upstairs (2nd floor) bathroom. Easy to access, since the drain is not up against a wall. It's one of those extra large tubs that could be a whirlpool, but it's not.

If this project is too messy, then I won't bother changing out the flange. And I guess if I was going to go that far I should just change the type of drain altogether -- the suction on this one wears out very quickly and it collects a lot of hair and debris. Very difficult to keep clean since it doesn't have an easily accessible screen.

Also, you recommend putty but I read somewhere that silicon is better because it's more flexible for this kind of tub. Well, if I don't remove the flange I guess it doesn't matter! Thanks again.

drain

There is about only one drain that has a "captive" pop-up that would require changing the flange. All the rest have a removable stopper that can be replaced very easily, although you have to use the old one to match for a new since there are many variations of them.