Service
Bathtub Repair
Repairing baths and their fittings, including waste and overflow assemblies, taps, and the leaks that show up in the ceiling below rather than the bathroom.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
Fill it twice
One test separates the two common bath leaks, and it needs nothing but time.
Fill to normal bathing depth and leave it. A leak now is the waste fitting, the trap, or the seal where the waste passes through the tub.
Then fill above the overflow. A leak that only starts now is the overflow gasket.
That second case is the one that catches people out, because a bath used normally never reaches it. It only shows when someone runs a deep bath, so the damp in the ceiling below appears occasionally and seems to have no pattern.
The cheapest part with the largest bill behind it
The overflow gasket is a rubber washer sitting between the overflow fitting and the tub wall, behind the chrome plate at the head of the bath.
It perishes. When it does, water reaching the overflow does not go into the waste; it passes behind the fitting and straight into the floor structure.
The part costs almost nothing and takes minutes to change. Left alone, it puts water into a ceiling every time anyone runs a deep bath, and the repair bill is joists, plasterboard and decorating rather than plumbing.
If you have unexplained damp below a bathroom and it only appears sometimes, this is the first thing to check.
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this service solves
- A bath that will not hold water
- Damp in the ceiling below only after a bath is used
- A dripping bath tap or diverter
- A waste fitting that leaks when the bath is full
- An overflow that lets water past into the floor
Signs you need bathtub repair
If more than one of these is true, the problem is usually past the point a plunger or a store-bought cleaner will fix.
- The plug will not hold a full bath
- Water appears below only when the bath is filled high
- The bath tap drips continuously
- There is staining around the overflow plate
What to expect
How the visit works
Test at two water levels
Filling to normal depth and then above the overflow separates a waste fault from an overflow gasket, which is the most common bath leak.
Renew the waste and overflow
The gasket behind the overflow plate perishes and is inexpensive. It causes far more ceiling damage than its price suggests.
Service the taps
Cartridges, washers and diverters are replaceable, and a bath tap that drips is usually one small part rather than a new set.
Check the seal to the wall
The silicone where the bath meets the tiling fails with movement, and water passing behind it does the same damage as a plumbing leak.
What's included
What you get on every job, whoever we send.
- Tested at two levels to isolate the overflow
- The overflow gasket checked, since it is the usual culprit
- Taps repaired rather than replaced where parts exist
- The wall seal treated as part of the system
Questions
Bathtub Repair questions
Water only appears below when the bath is really full. What is that?
The overflow gasket. Behind the overflow plate at the head of the bath there is a rubber seal between the fitting and the tub, and it perishes with age. Below the overflow level nothing touches it, so everything seems fine. Fill higher and water reaches the seal, passes behind it and runs straight into the floor. It is one of the cheapest parts in a bathroom and it causes a lot of ceiling damage.
My bath will not hold water. Is the waste broken?
Usually it is the seal or the linkage rather than the whole assembly. A pop-up bath waste is operated by a linkage running from the overflow, and it can go out of adjustment so the plug no longer seats fully. A lift-and-turn or push-type waste has a seal on the plug that perishes. Both are inexpensive repairs. A complete waste assembly replacement is only needed when the body itself has corroded.
Should the silicone around the bath be replaced?
If it is cracked, lifting or mouldy, yes, and it matters more than it looks. That seal is the only thing stopping water running down the gap between the bath and the tiling into the floor. It fails because a bath flexes slightly when it is filled and emptied, which works the silicone loose over time. Resealing properly means removing the old bead completely and applying to a dry, clean surface with the bath full of water.
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Get it fixed
Bathtub Repair, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does bathtub repair every week.
- Licensed and insured
- Answered 24/7
- Price before work