If you suspect your bathroom drain is leaking, you’ll want to take action right away.
Signs Your Bathtub Drain is Leaking
You might see the following signs:
- Damp patches on your ceiling (in the room under your tub)
- A neighbor below you complains of water leaking from the ceiling
- You discover you have rot problems in the wall or floor around your tub
Why You Need to Fix Your Leaking Bathtub Drain
If you don’t fix a bathtub drain leak, you’ll encounter the following problems:
- Rot in the flooring
- Rot in the ceiling
- Crumbling of plaster/paint on the ceiling
- Destruction of floorboards
- Mold and mildew problems
How to Find Your Bathtub Drain Leak
Take the following steps to find the source of your bathtub drain leak:
- Remove the side panel of the bathtub and soak up the water with a cloth
- Dry anything you can reach, including the pipes, fittings, and underside of the tub
- Now lay down a layer of paper towels under the tub
- Plug up the tub and fill the tub with a tiny amount of water
- Unplug the tub and watch to see where the leak is and what parts of the paper towels get wet
- You may need a flashlight
- You may need to run a little bit more water if you can’t figure it out right away
The following are likely places for a bathtub leak:
- Cracked plastic pipe in pipework
- Leaking joint
- Waste trap (or sump)
How to Fix Your Bathtub Drain Leak
You can try the following tactics:
- If the issue is a cracked pipe, cut off the section that is cracked and replace it with a new section (be sure to use compression joints on both ends).
- If the issue is a leaking joint, tighten the joint and test it for leaks. If it still leaks, replace the washers inside the joint and test again for leaks. If it still leaks, replace the joint just like you would a cracked pipe.
- If the issue is a broken waste trap (or sump), replace the entire unit. Be sure to extract the fitting, scour it clean, and make sure the fitting itself is not cracked and in need of replacement.
- If the issue is with sealant, apply new sealant and then replace the fitting.
When To Get Help
If this seems like an intimidating job, you may want to contact a residential plumber like ER Services of Charlotte, North Carolina. We’ll fix your leaking bathtub drain in no time and will set you up with restoration experts if you need the damage repaired.
Contact a Charlotte emergency plumber to fix your bathtub drain leak in Charlotte.
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