What should I use to seal the bathtub drain to floor drain?
Question:I am installing a bathroom in my basement. The drains have been roughed in. I know that most of the time, the builder will leave rock around the drain so the installer can get to the drain. My builder didn't; the concrete surrounds the drain.
The problem is that the bathtub drain fits inside the drain about 6 inches down. there is about a 1/8" space from the outside of the bathtub drain to the inside of the floor drain. I am unable to use a connector because there is only about 1" from the floor to the overflow drain. Not enough to put a reducing connector from the tub to the floor drain.
Is there any kind of caulk I can use to seal the space between the floor drain and the bathtub drain? Will I need to excavate some of the concrete around the drain to fit a connector?
Answers:
That's a bit of a quandary. I know the type you speak of. Barring using a hammer drill to create the space you need the only other option I can think of is to see if your local plumbing supply store has a drain assembly that will fit inside of the PVC. I think I remember seeing something like that at Lowe's. You may need to purchase a reducer sleeve as well. Good Luck. http://www.oatey.com/shower_drains/lit/o...
Have you looked at a rubber seal which will fit between the floor drain and the tub drain. I am thinking about the seals made to connect drains to the cast iron flanged drain pipes.
They are available every where and are about $10 (maybe a little less)
plumber's putty
Floor drain will not work for tub drain.Floor drains usually have weep holes. If drain stops up it will leak on floor.
My advice is to break around floor drain. Remove floor drain ,then use a connector. They are usually made of a rubber type gasket with large hose clamps to tighten up.
A tub needs a clear space under the drain end of the tub for the installation of the waste and overflow assembly. The vertical pipe coming up through the concrete, should have a p-trap under the slab, to seal the line from methane gas, rising up into your home. The trap should be 2'', and at some point in the rise, the pipe should reduce to 1 1/2". Then a trap adapter should be installed, in order for future removal, and or repair of the waste and overflow assembly. It sounds like your plumber needs to be called back to correct the situation, as he should have allowed for this when the piping was roughed in. Good luck to you!
First option ; paper towel
Second option : break away some of the concrete and move forward.
Regular old plumbers putty is best thing ive found. Make a small "snake" of it and put completely around the drain hole before putting in drain. After drain is tight, pull off the excess putty and put back in tub and save it for next time.
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