Struggling to remove drain from bath...

[tvradict]

My bath seems to have been leaking water for a while, judging by the state of the floorboards underneath and the fact that after 3 days of heat, it still hasn't dried, not it great quantities, but for a prolonged period. (3+ years maybe)

Some investigating revealed the drain hasn't been sealed properly, so every bath/shower the water has been seeping down the outside of the drain. Brilliant. The situation not being helped by the Ubend sitting on the floorboards

Anyway, I've got the ubend out, the wastepipe stripped out, now I need to get the drain out, which I'm going to replace with a shiney new one. Here is where I come across problems. Access is very limited underneath, the toilet is very close, I can just about get my hand in with the pliers to grip the nut underneath, but it just wont undo, even with sone holding the drain from above, its impossible.

There has to be an easier way of getting this out...

Any suggestions?

The bath is plastic/acrylic/cheap/light/ste so a bath to go from B&Q would save alot of time an effort, if this flat hadn't been done up a lazy bodging tr who decided to put tiles over tiles around the bath, so getting the bath out would be a nightmare.

[Pobolycwm]

Drill the screw out from above, ie from the bath side down through the seized nut, the nut will then break off or the screw will snap when you try to undo the nut. Be careful not to snap the drill as you start as it will tend to skip about a bit on the screw head until it starts cutting, maybe use a tile/ceramic drill to start with just to get a bit of a lead into the screw head before using a standard twist drill

[tvradict]

I didn't explain it very well, there is no screw going down from above, the Nut I was refering to is a 40mm one which threads up the same thread as the U Bend goes onto, and the nut goes all the way up to the bath. This is the nut I cant get a grip on properly and there is nothing to hold onto from above.

[Ferg]

I often stick two screwdrivers in the top and hold it like that. Otherwise, it may be a case of drilling through the nut underneath and breaking it off.

[tvradict]

I tried the 2 screwdrivers bit earlier, had the OH sitting in the bath holding the screwdrivers while i'm lying underneath trying to turn the nut. Drilling is almost impossible due to the limited access. I've managed to get a small hole drilled through it, but the flange of the nut is going to be difficult.

Judging by the amount of silicon around the nut underneath, this leak was known about before I bought the flat. Either that they knew it wasn't tight and thought silicon would help.

This is why I hate bodgers. Fg Lazy Useless Wrs

[Ferg]

tvradict said:

I tried the 2 screwdrivers bit earlier, had the OH sitting in the bath holding the screwdrivers while i'm lying underneath trying to turn the nut. Drilling is almost impossible due to the limited access. I've managed to get a small hole drilled through it, but the flange of the nut is going to be difficult.

Judging by the amount of silicon around the nut underneath, this leak was known about before I bought the flat. Either that they knew it wasn't tight and thought silicon would help.

This is why I hate bodgers. Fg Lazy Useless Wrs

Have you got a big pair of grips? If so, just grip the thread where it exits the nut. It'll fk it up, but then if you have no choice....

[FamilyGuy]

Is there room to get a pair of Stilsons (Monkey wrench) onto it? And I find that a pair of long nosed pliers stuck into the plug-hole is best as then you can put some kind of lever through the handles if required - not that this is kind to the long-nosed pliers.

[tvradict]

Well, I finally got it, I took Ferg's drilling technique one step further and used a hacksaw to cut through the nut from underneath, then I had to hold the nut with pliers and turn the drain with screwdrivers from above. Bit of a faff, but its out.

Now I can get on with putting the new drain and u bend in, once I figure out how to cut the floorboards out with 6inches of clearance.

[Harpo]

one word .................. Dremel.