Removing bath tub drain??

[Steven L Umbach]

The wife wants me to replace the old pop up drain in the bathtub in the kids bath that looks like hell from years of my son pouring Liquid Plumber into the tub when stopped up. It however drains well and does not leak. The problem is that the built in strainer has rotted out and there is only a single nub left that sticks out about 1/8 inch - not much to grab onto.

Sure I could hack it out but I don't want to damage the tub around the drain opening or damage the plastic plumbing because if I do I will have to cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling to access the plumbing. Then If I do that I will have to also repaint the whole kitchen/breakfast area ceiling after repairing the drywall.

I do have a Makita 9.6 V compact cordless reciprocating saw with a short metal cutting blade that I am thinking of using to try slowly and gently cut the drain in two spots on the inside to then try and remove it though I might also cut into the drain pipe slightly [the threaded area] and am not sure if that will be a problem or not. Does that sound like a god way to go or does anyone have any other ideas other then leaving it be as is? Thanks

Steve

[cm]

Steven,

I have been successful using a small rotary cut off wheel in a Dremel tool.

AZCRAIG

[Speedy Jim]

I use the Makita just for that. If you're careful it will work. The Dremel mentioned is good too.

Jim

[Italian]

There is a wrench that is made just for this that may be avaliable for rental in your area. If not you may try a piece of pipe or better yet wood (as it would catch on the little nub) about the same size as the hole and drive it into the opening and turn it with a pipe wrench(usually they are not on very tight) you may also try a pair of vice grips attached to the outer ring of the drain..again these are usually not that tight...esoically if it is metal to plastic good luck

Steven L Umbach wrote:

[Steven L Umbach]

Thanks for the tips guys!

I ended up using my Makita cordless reciprocating saw and carefully cut it on the inside in about three places. Then for the top lip I carefully drilled a hole to line up with each cut just drilling through the drain and not into the tub. I used a sharp Milwaukee cobalt drill bit to do that. The bit size was around eight of an inch. Then with a screwdriver I was able to pry it out in pieces. When I was done I did noticed that I must have chipped a very small sliver size piece of finish from the tub with black showing through at about the size of a pin hole near the drain - damn. Oh well the tub is in good shape but does not look like new. I made sure that area was clean and dry by swabbing it and using a hair dryer on the area. Since the tub is white I just put a dab of GE Silicone II on that spot and will let it dry for at least 24 hours and keep an eye on it to make sure it stays. That stuff is pretty tough and I just want to keep it from rusting and growing.

If I was going to do it again I would make sure I used a piece of plywood or such to support the reciprocating saw base on while cutting. I though I was being careful enough but I think that is how the very minor chip happened.

Steve