Posted by Scott H. on December 31, 1999 at 16:37:34:

My tub overflow drain has sprung a leak. The overflow drain is one of those common ones with a lever on the faceplate that goes up and down to open or close the main drain on the tub floor, and has a small slit at the bottom of the faceplate to drain overflow in case someone leaves the water on too long.

I've already taken the faceplate off and replaced the gasket. Now, when the water gets up to the overflow slit or even just above the slit, there is no leak. But, if I temporarily plug the slit and let the water get deeper so that nearly the entire faceplate is covered the leak occurs again. I've tried multiple types of gaskets, and they all only leak when the water significantly covers the faceplate. Whether partially of totally covered with water I expect the faceplate to not leak at all. Why is this happening? I've sanded the back of the tub a bit to make sure all of the old gasket material is removed, so as to get a good mating.

So, you say, if it only leaks when you plug the overflow slit, don't plug the slit. Let's just say that with kids around some things can't be guaranteed. It's fun to make the water a few inches deeper. There's another problem anyway: With the water on at full blast the overflow can't drain as fast as the water comes in. This sort of renders the overflow somewhat useless. Why is this happening? It's not that my pipes are clogged. The normal drain at the bottom of the tub seems to easily remove water coming in at full blast. Are there alternate faceplates that have bigger overflow holes?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance for your help.

Scott Heydinger
Lexington, KY

Replies:

• Re: tub overflow leaks, doesn't drain fast enough Troy 02:29:45 1/02/100 (0)