Odd drain size in old tub

Hello all, I just had my old tub (House built in 1926) refinished and am trying to switch the current lever style drain stopper system to a pull and turn drain. I bought a standard 1 1/2 pull and turn drain from Lowe's and have run into a problem that no one can help with.

I tried to put the new drain in and it is slightly smaller than the female shoe fitting. I held the new threaded end of the drain up to my current one and found that the new one is about 1/16th shorter in diameter (approx 1/32 all around) to small. i took it back to Lowes and they had no suggestion other than to build the new one up slightly with tape and have a go. I then went to a local Ferguson supply house and they said that technique would most certainly leak. They also said they had never seen a drain that is slightly larger than the standard 1 1/2 inch. From my measurements I am getting an OD measurement of 1 7/8 on the old one. All the new products have an OD of 1 13/16.

So my question is, is there anywhere i can buy a pull and turn to be slightly larger to match my need? Will the tape build up work? Any other suggestions? I can't be the only one who has ran into this problem on an older tub.

Obviously I am trying to not have to get in the crawlspace and do a whole new pipe system.

Help!

Clay

Pictures of old and new?

Here is the old and the new.

I don't like crawl spaces, either. But the quickest, simplest, and BEST way out of this is to replace the tub drain

What about the tape idea?

i agree with phish bite the bullet don't be scared crawl under the house and replace waste and overflow.

You asked someone from a department store for plumbing advice. You could probly rig it up with Teflon, you can also plumb your house with garden hose, but that doesn't make it right.

Do what you want for now, but someday you will be forced to do the proper thing and replace the waste/overflow

Just to put your mind to ease, if you used the entire roll of teflon tape in order to seal that fitting, you would lose the bite that the threads need to be able to tighten properly. I also hate small spaces and for this reason, I would be all over the internet and making phone calls to speciality plumbing supply outfits. Surely, someone must have the item you need!

Please let us know what you did to solve your problem.

Hi,
Take that one back to lowes and get the one with the brass threaded sleeve, I got the same thing myself a couple of years ago, ask them for the sleeve or the sleeved type. Fit no problem. Same exact drain from Lowes

Clay said:

From my measurements I am getting an OD measurement of 1 7/8 on the old one. All the new products have an OD of 1 13/16.

Click to expand...

I was curious about the odd size so I dug into my stock to see what I have.

I use AB&A waste and over flows. 1-1/2"1 ABS fittings and a conversion trim kit with the 2 part threaded sleeve like StevePlumb had mentioned.( the chrome flange is made to screw into old brass tubular waste and overflow and with sleeve into more modern plastic drains

Both have an O.D. of 1-7/8" w/ 11-1\2 thread pitch
That is the same size as a 1-1/2" pipe nipple. the only difference is the tub fitting is straight and the pipe has a tapered thread.

The inside diameter of a sch 40 plastic fitting is also 1-7/8" ( one that you glue 1-1/2" pipe into) If you can easily fit your old flange into than the AB&A should work just fine. Try screwing your old one into a 1-1/2" plastic female fitting. you might only get 1 thread in but that's okay . the female ftg is also tapered. But the first thread should be the same.

Okay I just made a Video to better explain. Be right back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yheeK_kTHlc

Hi,
I couldn't watch the video but I seen the frames of it.

The brass part is a part that is special made for your problem. It is not a regular fitting

It hangs with the tub drains.

It is threaded on the inside and outside. That is all you should need.

Although I said sleeve it is a threaded sleeve ID an OD, it threads onto the drain, doesn't slide and it isn't 2 parts.

If you have no luck at lowes finding it then go to your local plumbing store that has a parts department.

Lowes didn't stock alot of them, only a few.

It was a few years ago I got it but that is all you need.

I am looking to change my drain on my bath tub and I ran into this exact issue.
I wanted to simply unthread my old drain and thread in a turn style drain to do away with my flipper. After removing my old drain and purchasing the 1 1/2" drain from Lowe's. I found that my drain is a tad larger than 1 1/2".
I seen Mr. Davids’s post on this thread about the SCH 40 threads. But the post was a bit confusing to me. My drain will start maybe one thread in to a piece of SCH40 that I found at Lowes.
Changing the entire drain foot and overflow pipe is a pretty big undertaking with the way my bathroom is set up. Does anyone know a way that I could make or find a bushing to adapt my current drain to the standard 1 1/2". Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

blair683 said:

I am looking to change my drain on my bath tub and I ran into this exact issue.
I wanted to simply unthread my old drain and thread in a turn style drain to do away with my flipper. After removing my old drain and purchasing the 1 1/2" drain from Lowe's. I found that my drain is a tad larger than 1 1/2".
I seen Mr. Davids’s post on this thread about the SCH 40 threads. But the post was a bit confusing to me. My drain will start maybe one thread in to a piece of SCH40 that I found at Lowes.
Changing the entire drain foot and overflow pipe is a pretty big undertaking with the way my bathroom is set up. Does anyone know a way that I could make or find a bushing to adapt my current drain to the standard 1 1/2". Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Did you already remove the old trim fitting from the tub drain.
what exactly did you buy at Lowes? Got a part #
can you take a picture of what you took out.
I'll look to if I still have that video. looks like it's not available any longer

could not find video or some pictures I made.
Looks Like Clay, the originator of this post, did not come back and share the final out come and how he resolved the problem.
That happens a lot.

I have had my drain out multiple times as I have toted it with me to every hardware store in my area. All of the drains at Lowe’s are 1 3/8” and have a plastic bushing to make them 1 1/2”. I bought one and with the plastic bushing installed it is still just a tad to small in diameter. I went to my local plumbing supply store and they had the same size drain as Lowe’s but the bushing was brass rather than plastic. I bought it with the same exact result. It to was just a tad to small. My drain literally looks identical to the the one the OP posted on the first page of this thread. Below is a link to the one I bought from Lowe’s. Thanks for the help so far.
https://m.lowes.com/pd/Plumb-Pak-1-3-8-in-and-1-1-2-in-Brushed-Nickel-Metal-Trim-Kit/3132231

take your existing to a machine shop and have them cut you a bushing to match what you need.

You think they could do that, for a reasonable price? Mine is so close to to 1 1/2” size that I would probably have to have them make a bushing to adapt my size to the standard 1 3/8” size. Which would be fine with me. Maybe one of these crappy weather days I’ll drive around to a few machine shops and see what they say.

Maybe. It was just a crazy random thought.
If I were the plumber that came to your home I would be telling you they only thing I could do would be to replace the whole waste and overflow.

Sometime that requires just opening up the wall behind it, below it if possible or pulling the tub.

Good luck with that

hello I work on lots of old plumbing you won't find those parts
at lowes or hd if its a claw foot tub and the waste and over flow is chrome
it's 1 3/8 you can find a gerber waste and overflow at a PLUMBING. SUPPLY HOUSE use a rubber 1 1/4 tail peice washer they don't make
an 1 3/8 washer good luck

It is not a claw foot but is very old I assume. The waste and overflow are copper or brass. It’s way bigger than 1 3/8” as it is slightly larger than 1 1/2”.