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I have a drain for a bathtub that is stuck and broken. I was able to get it to turn, which seemed like a good thing, but looking in the drain, the fitting is turning as well. I tried using the flange to turn it, but it broke off.

I was going to try a chisel to pry the drain inward, but it moves enough that I'm afraid I will destroy the plumbing the drain is connected to. When I try to use pliers to pry the drain inward, the whole thing turns. If I can get it to bend, a piece breaks off.

It's broken to the point where I can't get more little pieces to break off, so I don't know where to go from here to remove it. enter image description here

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  • A photo would really help here.
    – jwh20
    Oct 4, 2019 at 19:44
  • Added photo. If another angle would help, let me know
    – Joshua Nurczyk
    Oct 4, 2019 at 20:19
  • If the connections down there are turning you'll almost certainly have to redo them to prevent leaks. Do you have access from below?
    – isherwood
    Oct 4, 2019 at 20:24
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    No access except what's pictured. To access below would require cutting through the bottom of the trailer. The drain has metal shavings floating on the water in it. Those are from trying to turn the drain and the inner surface scraping off.
    – Joshua Nurczyk
    Oct 4, 2019 at 21:38
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    have you contaced the maker for advice?
    – Jasen
    Oct 4, 2019 at 22:36

2 Answers 2

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There is a special wrench that looks like the traditional rook chess piece (castle) It matches up with the cute cross bars that catch long hair, and the last bit of a bar of soap.enter image description here

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  • Unfortunately the part that this would seat into has corroded away, so this will not help.
    – Joshua Nurczyk
    Oct 16, 2019 at 20:53
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You are likely going to have to access it from below. In general plumbing isn't made to be worked on from the fixture. There are a few operations that are done from there -- tightening to drain is one. But all real work requires access to the other side. You will need to cut through the floor from below.

If there isn't sufficient room to do this, you can raise the trailer and block it. Generally you will need a stack of blocks about every 10 feet. This often causes problems with the interior paneling. Raising it by an inch or so at a time helps. Having a bunch of people with a bunch of 6 ton jacks makes this go faster.

If jacking the trailer up, and working from below isn't an option, then you have to destroy the present setup, build a platform 6" to a foot high, and put your bathtub on the platform. The space will allow you to work on it. You will likely have to enlarge the hole through the upper subfloor to create enough space to cut the end of the current drain pipe off clean, and put in an extension to it.

(Houses and trailers and cities aren't built to be maintained. Hospitals, ships and planes are much more maintainable.)

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  • I am inclined to agree with you. There's no way I'd be able to afford to jack up the whole trailer. I'd rather destroy the current tub to get under it. Having had a house, I would agree about that as well, though my experience working in a hospital makes me less sure about those being more easily maintained.
    – Joshua Nurczyk
    Nov 6, 2019 at 22:37
  • Newer hospital... Lifting the whole trailer isn't as bad as you might think. I helped a friend with this. Trailer was on cribbing -- I think 10 cribs of 30" long 6x6. He scrounged 10 hydraulic jacks and cut a raft o 1/2" plywood scraps. and a smaller number of 2x6 chunks. Raise it 1/2" put a plywood chunk in. Move to next crib. repeat. I think it took us 2 hours to raise the entire trailer a foot.
    – Sherwood Botsford
    Nov 7, 2019 at 20:22

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