small flex in steel tub?

[bobs]

Hello all,

I recently had a bathroom redone and there is now an enameled steel tub and tiled surround replacing an old fiberglass jetted tub.

When I stand in it, I can feel it flexing underfoot ever so slightly.

I am used to standing in a cast iron tub, so the difference in feeling is much more pronounced.

I know it was installed on a bed of mortar.

Is it normal for steel to flex a tad?

 

[frodo]

you have a problem, it should not flex. a flex IS going to cause the drain to leak

if you are under warranty..make themfix it

try this. stand on the tub foot against wall MAKE IT ROCK shift your weight back and forth the other on the apron

see if it rocks. then do the same thing fron to back


you are not going to hurt it if it is installed correctly,,i climb on top of every tub i setr and try and rock it

 

[bobs]

Thank you for the reply and the illustration!

I stood and rocked on it, and didn't notice anything. But then from your post, I was concerned about the drain leaking.

I filled the tub with a little water and put the stopper down and still heard water draining, and then saw the water line receding.

I thought maybe the drain flange was missing some putty, so I started to take the flange out.

As I peered into the drain, the tub shoe (I hope that's the right word) looked a little misaligned.

I removed the flange and saw it had been cross threaded into the plastic shoe. I also saw that the gasket wasn't flush with the tub, and the gap (almost 1/4 in.) was haphazardly filled with plumber's putty.

Trying to remedy this, I was able to align the holes. Are you supposed to be able to swivel the drain arm??

There is still a space between the shoe gasket and the tub. I managed to screw the flange into the shoe, hoping that tightening it down and not cross-threading would close the gap, but it still wiggles some when fully tightened.

Obviously there are some problems with this and I'm hoping the drain arm doesn't need to be rebuilt.

This was a bathroom remodel and we thought we were finally finished. The only way to get to it now would be to cut a hole in the wall.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this!

 

[frodo]

you do not want to hear it

cut the wall and take out what was installed, and reinstall correctly

evidently the waste and over flow tee is not the correct heigth