"wintermute" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

Sorry for such a dopey question, but I'd like the technical term for it.
It's the bit that forms the plughole on the inner side of the bath, and a
short pipe on the underside, that connects to a wee u-bend type off to the
waste pipe. Mine's a bit loose and I'm not sure if it's easy to replacce
(doesn't look so) or if I can simply bung some sealer around it.

Cheers! John


How old is it?

If it is antique connected to lead then you may have problems.
If it is more modern it should be easy to take apart and re-assemble.
[If it is not leaking, just try tightening up the fixings and see if that is
enough.]

Assuming it is modern:

You should be able to unscrew the trap and remove it.
[Something underneath e.g. a shallow tea tray to catch the water]
[Unless, of course, it sinks through a hole in the floorboards, in which
case reassure yourself that the small amount of water you spill will
probably not show through to the downstairs ceiling. Try stuffing an old
towel round it to soak up as much as possible.]

Fixing of the bath waste is generally either by
a plastic nut screwed up the threaded outside of the bath waste from
underneath the bath, which pulls the plug hole bit down into the bath
or
a screw through the centre of the plug hole bit which pulls the bath waste
up to the bottom of the bath.

You can therefore remove the waste, clean it up, apply loads of silicone
sealant to top and bottom of the opening in the bath, and refit the waste
and tighten everything up. Wipe the sealant from around the waste inside the
bath, but don't worry about the underneath ;-)

If it is a nut around the pipe, PTFE tape also helps to create a seal
between the nut and the pipe.

Refit the trap, fill the bath full of water, release plug and pray (after
obviously giving the silicone sealant the recommended time to 'go off').

HTH
Dave R