How to Change Out Tub Drains & Plugs

Press down on the drain’s lever to raise the stopper in the main drain hole — if your tub has a pop-up stopper — and then pull the stopper and the attached linkage out of the drainpipe. Place a towel over the tub’s main drain opening and then remove the screws on the tub’s overflow drain cover. The screws securing the drain cover may require either a Phillips screwdriver or a slotted screwdriver.

Pull on the plug’s lever, pulling the overflow drain cover away from the drain opening and removing the attached linkage from the overflow drain tube. If you do not have a pop-up plug in your tub and no brass plunger is attached to the end of the linkage, pull the linkage out of the bottom of the overflow drain tube with a flexible retrieval tool.

Insert a drain key into the tub’s main drain opening and expand the key against the drain’s walls. Turn the drain key counterclockwise with a pipe wrench, twisting the drain body out of the drainpipe.

Access the overflow drain tube from the wall behind the tub’s overflow drain opening, cutting a hole in the wall with a drywall knife if no access door exists. Loosen the connection between the overflow drain tube and the pipe tee using the pipe wrench, and then remove the overflow tube.

Loosen the connection between the pipe tee and the drainpipe below with the wrench, and then pull the drain tee and the connected drainpipe that runs under the tub out of the wall. Position the new drainpipes under the tub in the same configuration as the old ones, testing for proper fitment. Trim any excess on the pipes using a hacksaw. Spread silicone caulk onto the lip of the overflow tube’s opening and then press the rubber gasket onto the overflow tube’s lip.

Reinstall the pipes under the tub, tightening the connections with your hands. Have an assistant hold the overflow tube in position while you position the new overflow drain cover and tighten the screws through the cover

Spread silicone caulk on the underside of the new main drain body and thread the drain body into the drainpipe through the opening in the bottom of the tub. Expand the drain key in the drain body and turn it clockwise with the wrench until tight.