Standard Bathtub Drains

Bathtub Drains

• It isn’t the stopper that determines if a bathtub drain is standard or not; it is the parts of the drain you can’t see. Usually inaccessibly hidden beneath the tub, bathtub drain parts are usually made of brass or chrome. While designed to last for years, some part of the drain will eventually fail. Whether the drain is always open and must be blocked with a stopper or it has a push-in attached stopper, the hidden parts of it will be the same.

Parts

• A standard bathtub drain consists of an overflow tube, a shoe and the visible portion of the drain that sits inside the tub itself. The overflow tube connects behind the overflow plate and funnels water down into the drainpipe. It helps keep your tub from overflowing when the water level in it rises too high. The drain shoe connects the drain gasket to the main drainpipe. The overflow tube and drain shoe connect using a T-fitting.

Function

• When functioning properly, a standard bathtub drain will hold in water for bathing easily. It won’t let water slip down the main drain, into the shoe and then to the main drainpipe. The overflow tube siphons off water as it rises too high in the bathtub. As long as the water isn’t rising quickly, it will stop the tub from overflowing. A drain that is working correctly can remove 8 inches of water from a standard 5-foot-long tub in six minutes or less. Any drain that takes longer is probably clogged.

Considerations

• Unless your bathtub is installed over an unfinished basement, accessing the parts of a standard drain can be a challenge. You will either need to get inside a crawl space or cut a hole in the ceiling of the room below the bathroom. If your tub drains slowly, it might not be a problem with the parts of the drain, but rather a clog stuck inside of them. To prevent clogs, try using a mesh strainer to catch hair and other material before it gets in the drain. Strainers designed to fit standard drains are available at home supply and improvement stores.