I am not much more than a novice in plumbing matters but when our downstairs bathtub recently began draining rather slowly I thought snaking the tub was (or is) the remedy if there were no obvious causes (hair or some foreign object blocking the drain that could be removed by hand). Actually I did remove a number of raisins compliments of my 3 yr. old boy and some of my wife's shoulder length hair. However, the tub still drains too slow so I bought a snake w/the intention of further clearing the drain pipe. The instructions direct the user to remove the overflow plate and work the pipe through the opening in the tub (I hope I said that right, the instructions are in the closet where the raisin fiend is sleeping right now). Anyway, that was not a difficult task. At this point I noticed that even when the pipe was connected before I had removed the overflow plate, the pipe was not flush with the tub (fairly big gap between the tub and the pipe). The house is on a slab and it appeared that any excess water from the tub was just running down the outside of the tub and falling to a cut-out area of the slab (filled w/stones). Also, when someone turned on the sink in the same bathroom, water would come up through the tub drain. Is the gap between the overflow pipe and cover something I should try to remedy or leave it to a professional? If I can fix it, should I proceed to snake from that area? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Linz,
The opening between your tub and clean-out will only cause a
problem when water overflows from the tub. As long as your careful, it shouldn't be a problem. The pipe should fit flush with the tub and have a gasket between the two to complete the seal. You can clean out from this opening with a snake and it won't cause any additional problems.