bathtubdrain
Our massage bathtub was installed by the previous owner.
I want to snake bathtub through the overflow drain to unclog the drain. But its cover is kind of unique. I couldn't find any instruction online.
Can anyone kindly shed some light on this? Thanks.
Your tub has an overflow drain. You just have to find it. Remove the two screws next to the combination drain toggle & overflow plate. Now gently pull up to reveal the overflow hole and the drain plug:
Get out your snake (you've got a snake, right?) and thread it down the newly revealed hole. Also remove the single screw holding the drain screen. Use some sort of semi-flexible plastic rod to clean out the horizontal section of the drain (a suitable tool comes with some bottles of drain cleaner, else you can improvise).
Don't bother with drain cleaner -- it is not right for your situation.
There would be no such thing as "excessive wear" on a bathtub drain - unless there was caustic material being poured down the drain which ate away at the drain pipe and joints.....although from the sounds of it this is far from the case here.
For the sake of discussion let us assume that the tub is a quality name brand product.
It may be that there was excessive flex on the drain pipe joint to the tub, especially in the case of a plastic or fiberglass type of tub. Excessive flex would only be brought on by an improper installation of the tub where it was not supported in the correct manner or the drain pipe was improperly installed.
Best Answer
Contact American Standard. I've seen images online that show they have tubs with this type of overflow. They should be able to advise you. Also it looks as if you don't have any caulking around the edge of the tile joining the bathtub. It would be a really good idea to run some silicone caulking around that edge. Make sure it's silicone and you can get it in clear. If you're not used to using silicone it can be kind of messy when using it.