How to treat rust in bathtub drain?

debbiemmr

I had my beige bath reglazed to white. Around the rim of the drain, it kept going rusty and the guy gave me some pre-wash liquid that I had to put on the rust spots prior to using the bath. He came out 2 more separate times to sort it out however the rust persists.  

All I think I need to do is remove the drain, clean the rust, epoxy paint the very small area, and install new drain with plumbers putty wrapped around the area. Any advice ? I haven’t used my bath in 5 years. 

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @debbiemmr . It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about a rusting drain.

Removing a drain for a bathtub can be problematic unless it is a free-standing bath. In most cases, you can't access the nut on the underside of the bath that holds the drain in position. Do you have access to under the bath?

You might like to polish up that chrome flange with some crumpled aluminium foil and Coca-Cola. Clean the area well and try to remove any of the rust stains. Take some white wet-area silicone and run a thin bead around the perimeter of the drain flange, where the rust is coming from. Dip your finger in soapy water and run it around the flange pressing the silicone into the gap under the drain flange. This should hopefully prevent water from getting under the flange and promoting rust.

Another option might be to clean the drain well and then paint it and the yellow rust-stained rebated section with tub paint.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell