Leaking bath

Hugbubble

Hi

I hope someone can help before I contact the plumber/ bath shop again...!

I had a bathroom refurb. He finished about a month ago. We realised pretty soon that if you tried having a bath the water would be draining as you bathed, meaning it was pretty diofficult to have a long soak (the water would be only about 3 inches deep within 15 minutes!)

The bath has a pop up waste.

Mentioned to the fitter- he suggested pushing the plug down to see if it would get a better seal. It didn't help.

At this time, we also, ironically, had the opposite problem in that if you had a shower with the over bath shower, it wouldn't drain fast enough and you ended up standing in a half foot of water- this has now solved itself (I guess there was grit/ sediment trapped down there which cleared itself), but when it was still a problem a couple of weeks ago, the fitter seemed to be ignoring our calls (after saying he would come out to fix it).

Anyway, so as the fitter was ignoring our calls, we called the bathroom shop to ask if they could send a replacement plug. They did a couple of days ago but it still doesn't work, with the water draining as you bath.

Anyway- to get to the point- can anyone advise-
1) how best the screw on the plug can be adjusted to solve the problem?
2) whether it is possible that the problem can be anything to do with the mechanism of the pop up, rather than the plug itself?
3) if it is to do with the mechanism rather than the plug, how does it get fixed when the side of the bath is tiled?

Sorry for the long winded post, but its driving me to distraction that I can't have a decent bath in the new bathroom I paid a lot of money for

Thanks for any advice!

googler

I hate pop-up wastes, for exactly the reasons you've outlined.

Get them to change it for a conventional one before they tile the side panel.....

Hugbubble

googler wrote: »

I hate pop-up wastes, for exactly the reasons you've outlined.

Get them to change it for a conventional one before they tile the side panel.....

The fitting has already been done...

Any advice on the questions I posed...?

ormus

we have the same problem. cheap BQ bath. (but it was free).
doesnt seem to matter what price the bath is, all pop ups are a waste.

27col

Hugbubble wrote: »

The fitting has already been done...

Any advice on the questions I posed...?

The fitting may well have been done as you say. But the fact remains that the waste leaks and the person who fitted it should ensure that it does actually work.

keystone

27col wrote: »

The fitting may well have been done as you say. But the fact remains that the waste leaks and the person who fitted it should ensure that it does actually work.

100% fetch him back. Hes probably not adjusted it properly so that it drops far enough down to make a seal when you want to have a bath.

Is it one like this:



If so you should find that the "plug" can easily be removed from the "plughole". Turn it over. There'll be a a screw adjuster that enables you to change the height and get the "plug" seated properly when the waste is closed. Why am I telling you this? - your installer should be fixing it!!!

The shower issue is because the wretched things sit too close to the "plughole" when properly adjusted so the water runs away slowly. You don't notice this when emptying the bath but you do notice when standing under teh shower. Take it out of the plughole when showering and the problem should go saway.

Cheers

Hugbubble

keystone wrote: »

100% fetch him back. Hes probably not adjusted it properly so that it drops far enough down to make a seal when you want to have a bath.

Is it one like this:



If so you should find that the "plug" can easily be removed from the "plughole". Turn it over. There'll be a a screw adjuster that enables you to change the height and get the "plug" seated properly when the waste is closed. Why am I telling you this? - your installer should be fixing it!!!

The shower issue is because the wretched things sit too close to the "plughole" when properly adjusted so the water runs away slowly. You don't notice this when emptying the bath but you do notice when standing under teh shower. Take it out of the plughole when showering and the problem should go saway.

Cheers

Thanks for your help. It looks pretty similar to that. As I mentioned, the shower issue has been solved now. We've tried adjusting the screw adjuster to no avail, and replacing the plug hasn't helped.

I appreciate that the fitter should be changing it, but I want to be in a position of knowledge before phoning him so he doesn't fob me off.

Can you tell me whether it might be something to do with the inner mechanism/ lever, rather than the screw adjuster on the plug?

Hugbubble

Flanker wrote: »

There's always a possibility that the hidden mechanism is faulty in some way, but it's more likely that there's a leak elsewhere as a result of poor fitting (eg it hasn't been tightened correctly so the water is leaking around the housing of the waste rather than between the waste and plug, or the screw hasn't been adjusted properly) or simply a poor seal somewhere in the product (eg the seal between plug and waste isn't watertight).

Thing is the fitter should have checked thoroughly for leaks before he tiled the bath in. To me, it sounds like he didn't bother.

Thanks for your response.

I've called him and he's coming out, but just wondered if it is one the problems you mentioned, is it easily fixable, given the tiled in bath?

Cheers

googler

If you fill the bath, then apply downward pressure on the centre of the plug, does that stop it flowing away?

If it stops it, then that indicates that the lightweight plug isn't making a good seal with its mating surface on the plughole. It may just be that the rubber seal is distorted on the plug, or the alignment on the plughole is out of whack.

If the water still runs away, that suggests the plughole hasn't been sealed properly to the bath, and the water is running down between the two into the waste pipe, but it would take some gap there for the water to drain at the rate you describe.

With the bath filled, can you add some coloured liquid through a pipette or dropper around the plug, and see if this shows where the flow of water is going? Something dark like Ribena or Cranberry Juice might do.

Hugbubble

googler wrote: »

If you fill the bath, then apply downward pressure on the centre of the plug, does that stop it flowing away?

If it stops it, then that indicates that the lightweight plug isn't making a good seal with its mating surface on the plughole. It may just be that the rubber seal is distorted on the plug, or the alignment on the plughole is out of whack.

If the water still runs away, that suggests the plughole hasn't been sealed properly to the bath, and the water is running down between the two into the waste pipe, but it would take some gap there for the water to drain at the rate you describe.

With the bath filled, can you add some coloured liquid through a pipette or dropper around the plug, and see if this shows where the flow of water is going? Something dark like Ribena or Cranberry Juice might do.

Good suggestions. I'll give them a go later.

keystone

Hugbubble wrote: »

Thanks for your help. It looks pretty similar to that. As I mentioned, the shower issue has been solved now. We've tried adjusting the screw adjuster to no avail, and replacing the plug hasn't helped.

OK for the first. Did you use any old one or did you get one for that waste?

I appreciate that the fitter should be changing it, but I want to be in a position of knowledge before phoning him so he doesn't fob me off.

Actually you don't. What you need to say is "It ain't right, I've paid you to make it right, come and fix it" - but you say you have given hi a call later on.

Can you tell me whether it might be something to do with the inner mechanism/ lever, rather than the screw adjuster on the plug?

Possibly if its a cheap one. Whats the make? To pick up on Flanker's point yes I suppose its remotely possible that the water is not vanishing down the waste pipe but I think you'd have noticed it by now..............






..... in the room below. You can easily check if the seal is correctly made to the bath. Remove the "plug". You will see a threaded cylindrical object in the centre of the waste with a slot cut into the top. That takes a screwdriver (of appropriate size) and when it is tightened up it pulls the waste tight up against the two washers between it and the bath. Trouble is you need to hold the waste from underneath as you are doing that and if it has been tiled in you have a problem.

Which brings me to another point. Are you seriously saying that he has tiled the side of the bath without incorporating some sort of access to enable you to get to the waste and othere essentials under there? So how does he expect you to unblock the trap when it, inevitably, gets choked up with hair and soapscum? How does he expect you to be able to isolate the supplies to the taps when you need to if you cannot access the isolating valves which he, of course, has fitted iaw regs?

Cheers