Removing a drain end cap.

Behind the bath tub is probably a 2 1/2 to 3 inch steel drain that goes to the basement. The top has a 1 1/16" nut formed on the end cap which is becoming a bit of a pain. It's an inch or so below floor so I cant throw a pipe wrench so using a 6 point socket ended up rounding off the brass fitting. The size was just under 1 1/16 but a 1 1/32 wouldn't fit even with little encouragement. My question is I seem to need a type of socket with teeth I can pound on that will grab the nut. It's an older house and surprised it hasn't been off before but it definitely needs to come off now. Any suggestions please....

Have you tried a basin wrench?

Is it a clean out, not sure what you are talking about. A picture may help. They do sell clean out plug removal tools.

Just ordered a basin wrench ratchet attachment PST166 from Amazon should be here Thursday. Thanks for the suggestion just hope it will bite up to 1 1/16" leaving enough teeth. Will let you know.... Dave.

he says the cover is about an inch below the floor I bet its drum trap.....measure the outside diameter of the cover and tell us what is...if yo have to cut the clean out off you have a couple of options a new clean out cover...a (spin tight plug)maybe a lead fit all..last option I think...a rubber cap that fits over the body of the drum trap...if that's what it is...

Problem is, the 1 1/16" nut doesn't provide much torque for loosening a 3" cleanout plug, if it's corroded and/or hasn't been removed for a while. You may still have a bit of a problem transferring the required torque to loosen it. Good luck!
As far as a socket, use a 12 point socket, one size smaller than than what would fit and hammer it on. This is a common approach for cars lug nuts including the security lug nuts(round exterior) that are made to require special socket. But if it came to that, I would suggest you leave the socket on there or replace the plug with a new one.

Geofd said:

he says the cover is about an inch below the floor I bet its drum trap.....measure the outside diameter of the cover and tell us what is...if yo have to cut the clean out off you have a couple of options a new clean out cover...a (spin tight plug)maybe a lead fit all..last option I think...a rubber cap that fits over the body of the drum trap...if that's what it is...

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you can also use a sharp chisel and hammer on the outside edge of the cover sometimes it will come off with a few whacks to start it

soak overnight with PB Blaster to loosen the crud.

We used to heat them with our torches. If it is brass you could always whack it and get a replacement. Again a picture might help.

CT18 said:

We used to heat them with our torches. If it is brass you could always whack it and get a replacement. Again a picture might help.

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If that is a lead drum trap I wouldn't start whacking it.

I would then whack the whole thing. I dont know what it is I'm just throwing things out there. Again a picture might help.

I would just get rid of the whole trap and re plumb. I think they were originally installed to catch something valuable if it went down the drain. ( rings, etc.)

The culprit.

Estam said:

The culprit.

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Looks in pretty good shape.
If you decide to remove the plug, I'd soak it with Liquid Wrench, or equivalent. Give it a few taps with the end of a wrench, let it soak for a while, then before trying to unscrew it, give it a few more raps with something. Doesn't have to be too hard. Just to set up a bit of a vibration within the joint. May help.

Estam said:

The culprit.

Click to expand...

The perspective might be off but looks like you could get a pipe wrench around that.