Bath tub drain

[dan8drum]

I just tried to remove my pitted bathtub drain flange with a tool Lowes told me would work, and now my drain flange broke off and the threads for the flange are broke off in the drain pipe. So I tried to remove the existing threads of the flange and now my 90 degree drain pipe moves inside my tub.
Question is? Do I have to remove my tub to get to the drain pipe, or can I go to back wall, which has drywall to get to the plumbing. Is there enough clearance to replace the pipe and make sure it does not leak.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Dan

[LazyPup]

Well Dan. to put your mind at ease a bit, you do not have to remove the tub, in fact, you would need to remove the drain piping before you could remove the tub.

No doubt Lowes sold you a basket wrench that was purported to be able to do the job and in most instances it probably would, but no matter what type of basket wrench you choose the odds are very high that they won't work.

Primarily basket wrenches work on one of two principals. They either grip the cross in the bottom of the tub basket or they have an expanding feature to grip the inside of the basket itself. Depending upon the age of the existing tub basket, what we commonly find is if it is an older basket (10yrs or more) quite often the cross has been severely weakened by corrosion which resulted from acids produced by hair, soap scum and moisture on the metal. This is totally unavoidable and in the trade we just assume going in that the cross may break before we get the basket out.

They make two or three varieties of basket wrenches that fit into the basket and are then expanded to gripe the basket wall, but here again, if the basket has been in place for a number of years the odds are that the threads are corroded and the expanding wrenches are little better than those that grip the cross.

When all else fails I usually use a mini-hacksaw to carefully cut the flange being very careful not to cut the tub in the process, then cut the wall of the tub basket from the inside. Once i have a line cut I use a flat screwdriver to pry the old basket out.

Once I have the basket pried out I then remove the entire waste and overflow kit and replace it. A complete replacement kit can be purchased for under $20 so it is the most cost effective method of solving the problem.

By Code if the tub has an 12" x 12" service access panel, either through the adjacent wall or through the floor from underneath you may use a conventional "Slip Joint" type P-trap and Waste & Overflow Kit. If there is no service access panel we are required to use a glue in type Waste & Overflow and P-trap.

I am attaching an illustration that should help you see how it is all connected together..

This illustration is for a glue in type Waste & Overflow Kit. Where it shows "Stock PVC" in the illustration some kits do not supply those sections of pipe, but rather the plumber uses his stock PVC pipe to make it up. Some kits do have PVC pipe in the kit to make those sections. The actual lengths of the Stock PVC sections are custom fitted to your tub during installation.

The slip joint type waste & overflow will have the tubular sections represented by the Stock PVC, and they have a slip joint with a compression nut, the same as those used on the drain lines under your kitchen sink.

The input of the P-trap would be directly under the PVC down pipe extending downward from the TEE.

You will find that installing the new Waste & overflow will require a helper. One person reach through the access and hold the tub shoe in place while the helper inserts the new tub basket down through the tub from above and screws it in place.

I prefer to apply a light film of clear silicone sealant to both flat surfaces of the gaskets before installing them. This will help in effecting a good seal between the waste & overflow and the tub wall.

You should apply a small rope of Plumbers putty to the underside of the basket flange before installing it. As you tighten the basket down into place the excess plumbers putty will squeeze out and you can clean it off with a wet rag.

[Phelps]

If he tries to extract the flange by a device that grabs the insides where the threads are, he might try using a hair dryer down there to soften old hardened pipe dope and/or plumbers putty, as he works on it. That might help.