Archive for the ‘Plumbing tips and tricks’ Category

How to Remove a Bath Drain

Monday, July 12th, 2010
  • Turn off the water supply for the bathtub faucet. This will help prevent accidents while your working in case you bump the faucet. On newer homes, the water supply valves are close to the faucet, usually behind an access panel. Turn these clockwise to turn off. In an older home, turn off the water supply for the whole house, usually located near the street.
  • Remove the bathtub stopper. The two major types of stopper are the twist-and-lock models and the toe-tap type. In a twist-and-lock model, remove the stopper by unscrewing the round handle on top of the stopper counterclockwise, either with your hands or with a pair of pliers if the cap is stuck. Pull up on the stopper to remove. On a toe-tap type, simply twist the drain counterclockwise to remove.
  • Remove the drain flange. Insert two screwdrivers into the drain flange so that they catch on the tines in the bottom. Use these as a handle for a pair of pliers to twist out the drain flange.
  • Clean off the drain opening. Remove all traces of putty and caulk.

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    I tend to moult when I get in the shower. How do I get the water flowing again?

    Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

    The water isn’t draining away quickly because your hair is clogging things up I’m afraid. This is straight forward to sort out with one of the ‘off the shelf’ products which dissolves the blockage, after about 15mins the bath will no longer be ankle deep.

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    The radiator on our top floor doesn’t fully heat up. Any ideas?

    Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

    When a radiator doesn’t fully heat up it can usually be sorted out by ‘balancing’ the other radiators in the system.  To do this you will need to  tighten the  lock shield nuts (the cylindrical fittings on one side of each rad) on the other radiators a little. This will then divert some of the heat upstairs. This can take some time and will require a lot of running up and down the stairs.

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    Plastic or copper?

    Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

    50/50 I usually use plastic where its difficult to run copper for example under floors etc where its flexibility is very useful. Copper I always use where it is visible. There is nothing worse than seeing plastic pipes which start to sag a little when hot water runs through them.

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