DIY Tips to Replacing a Bathtub Drain Stopper

Are you tired of a bathtub drain stopper that won’t hold water? When your bathtub drain stopper isn’t working correctly and you can’t fill up the tub without keeping the water running, it gets very annoying and expensive. Running out all the hot water inconveniences everyone else in the house and literally flushes money down the drain.

Replacing your bathtub drain stopper is a lot easier than you may think, especially with the newer products available today.  It’s a fairly simple DIY project to remove your bathtub stopper and replace it with a new one. There is no need to put this project off any longer with the following DIY tips to replace a faulty bathtub drain stopper.

1)  Determine the Type of Stopper That You Have
The most commonly used bathtub drain stoppers are lift and turn and push-pull which sit right on top of the drain opening. If you do not see a stopper over your drain, it may be a plunger style or pop up type of stopper controlled through a trip lever in the overflow plate. 

2)  Remove the Current Bathtub Stopper
It’s a fairly simple DIY project to remove the most common styles of bathtub stoppers. For lift and turn or push pull stoppers, keep the stopper in the closed position and hold onto the base of the stopper. Turn the knob counterclockwise until the stopper comes out of the drain.
If the stopper does not come out of the drain, there is probably a set screw underneath the stopper top. Use a screwdriver to loosen the set screw without removing it, and you should be able to pull the stopper out of the drain. If the knob comes loose but the stem is still in the drain, just use a screwdriver to remove the stem and any additional parts.

3)  Install a New Bathtub Stopper
We have found the easiest bathtub stopper to install is this SimpliQuick® Tub Fix by Watco. This push pull bathtub stopper sits right on top of your existing drain with a watertight seal and comes with a 5- year limited warranty. Even if there are broken crossbars, there is no need to remove your existing drain to install a new bathtub stopper.

Don’t worry about how to figure out the thread count, the drain diameter or the depth of your current bathtub drain.  Watco is a name trusted by professionals and known by experienced do-it-yourselfers for quality products with easy to install options.


FixMyDrain.com offers this revolutionary product along with easy demonstrational videos and helpful customer service. Save time and money with the simplest bathtub stopper solution that installs in minutes. Contact us for assistance and learn how easy it is to replace a bathtub drain stopper yourself.