Looks like you bought the bathtub drain kit to use in your bathtub. But you don’t know how to install it to use it. No worries. From this guide, you will learn how you can install a bathtub drain kit with overflow. So, let’s start straight away.
Introduce With The Bathtub Drain
If you are not familiar with the drain and its parts you are going to install, you will face problems. So, know it before going for it.
A bathtub drain is a drain that connects the bathtub to a waste drain to allow water to flow from the tub. Also, it can block the water in the tub and control the overflow.
A bathtub drain looks exactly like the alphabet ‘L’. Now, let’s divide it with 2 sections. The overflow part is the upper or the vertical section… and the main drain which is the lower or the horizontal part of the drain.
The overflow section consists of a trip lever at its entrance. There’s also an overflow face place to cover the opening. The lever is attached to spring after a sheet with holes and a rod. After that, all of these go down through the overflow pipe behind the tub.
On the other hand, the main drain comes with a stopper at its opening. In addition, the stopper is connected with a rocker arm and goes inside of the pipe.
Above all, the overflow section and the main drain connect through a sanitary tee pipe. A compression nut and a rubber ring make the joint tighter on either side. Also, the spring from the overflow joins with the rocker arm inside of the tee pipe.
You can operate the drain with the help of the lever and the stopper. If you turn the lever downwards, it’ll pull the rod along with the spring. After that, the rocker arm will pull the plug down. Therefore, the stopper will close and stops the water flow. The reverse is true for the lever up. Moreover, the overflow mechanism removes the excess water from the tub.
How To Install Bathtub Drain With Overflow
Here’s the detailed step-by-step guide to install a bathtub drain with overflow. The work is easy but follow the steps sequentially.
Step 1: Get Ready
You need easy access to your bathtub to installing the drain. Otherwise, things will be difficult to set up properly. So, keep this in your mind before starting the installation. Also, you will need a few tools to do the job. Make sure you have these tools:
Ø Normal Wrench
Ø Strainer Wrench
Ø Hack Saw Blade
Ø Silicone or Plumbing Putty
Ø Teflon Tape
Ø A Pencil
Step 2: Take It Off
You cannot install the drain if it’s assembled. So, disassemble each thing from another. You can take a note if you want to identify the parts better. Make sure to take off the tee, main drain pipe, overflow pipe, and the stopper from the assembly. Also, open up the rod joins from the internal parts.
Step 3: Install Overflow
The upper part of the overflow pipe is the overflow head. Take off the overflow faceplate with the lever from here. Now smear some putty on the entrance of the head, then put the rubber gasket on it and again some putty on the gasket.
Then hold the head close to the upper body hole of the tub from outside and the faceplate from inside. Make sure the rod attached to the lever feeds the overflow head and goes out of the tub. Finally, make it tight with the strainer tool.
Step 4: Setup Main Drain
Like the overflow head, the main drain also has a head where the stopper sits. If you have not yet removed the plug, remove it now. Now install the head of the main drain in the hole at the bottom of the tub, following the same procedure as the overflow head. Then clean off the extra putty from both sides.
Step 5: Fit The Pipe
You have two pipes, one for the main drain and the other for the overflow. Each tub has different measurements. So, you need to cut the pipes to the correct size to fit with the tubs.
Firstly, take measurements to get the right size. Insert one pipe to the overflow head and another to the main drain. Now join the tee pipe with those two pipes and mark the meeting points with a pencil. After that, cut the pipes into the marks using a hack saw blade.
Step 6: Make Them One
The pipes are ready to fit now. Connect one side of both pipes into both heads. Make sure that the rod and the rocker arm go inside of the lines. Further, insert the compression nut followed by the rubber ring on the other end of the pipes.
It’s time to join both pipes with the sanitary tee. The middle leg of the tee should meet the main drain, and the upper leg should meet the overflow. But first, attach the rod, spring, and rocker arm as before. Then screw up both side nuts.
Step 7: Tight The Joints
Open the bottom pipe of the tee by undoing the threads. Bend some Teflon tape on the thread to secure the leakage and place it as before. Finally, pick up the wrench and tighten up the tee pipe joints.
Step 8: Stopper In
All set except the stopper. You’ll see a space to install the stopper if you look at the main drain. Put the plug there and spin it clockwise to fit.
After the installation complete, it’s time to test it. To test it:
- Close the stopper and fill the tub halfway with water.
- Leave it for an hour. If you see the same level of water after an hour, then congrats, you’ve done the bathtub kit installation perfectly.
- Don’t forget to test the lever and the stopper.
To Conclude
Everything’s easy when you know the right way to do that. Our purpose of this article is to help you with bathtub drain installation. And we’re glad you did it. For more plumbing knowledge, you can follow our blog.
Last but not least, we are a reputed supplier of brass waste drains, and bathtub drains. Check our products and if you need any consultancy or need to buy our products, just Contact Us.
