Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Can you cut a hole behind the stove and get in, saves your cabinet that way.

gearheads78

Only if I want to work on the back side of the toilet

The other wall is a brick outside wall. It looks like cutting through the side of my cabnets and working in a small cave or ripping out my bathroom walls and tile to pull the tub is my only options.

Schne442

If the stove is next to the corner cabinet you should be able to remove the screws and pull the cabinet out then get at the wall behind the tub
Gary

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

All depends what the flooring is doing.Some will wrap the flooring up the base of the cabinet, meaning it is glued.If you have hardwood or tile you are looking at least 3/4's of an inch. If a person is lucky they may have done the flooring first, then you could slide it out but on some cardboard. But other wise the only way to pull it out is remove the counter top and lift the base cabinet.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

If you didn't live 2000 miles away from me I would come down and help you out

Lady72nRob71

What a mess a $1 broke pipe caused.
I see myself sealing the tub drain and using a sump pump to drain the tub into the John...

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Ah just keep the bath water in, get a 5 gallon pail. When need to flush, pour pail. Just think of the water you would save.lol

Lady72nRob71

Hey - we need to stay GREEN now and not go too crazy...
Use a water-saving 1.6 gallon pail.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

, Funny how a poor guys mess is another guys joke

Schne442

Guys stop it !!! this man is in a lot of trouble and all you want to do is make jokes. Now lets get serious for a while. Have you ever seen the movie The Great Escape? what you need is a Tunnel Rat to dig under the foundation and get it from underneath. Then it will be just like working on the underside of your car.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

try a badger, make a bigger hole and get there alot faster

Lady72nRob71

Didn't the Tunnel Rats use digging tools made from spoons or such?
That'd take a while...

Higgins

I've been doing home remodeling for 25 years on my rental properties. Everything, plumbing too. If at all possible go through the kitchen wall, it will be much cheaper and easier. A counter top & cabinet would be easier to replace than pulling tile & removing the tub and the repair would be less noticeable. You should be able to unscrew those and pull them quite easily. If you pull the tub, you would have to get the height of the drain pipe exact and there are rubber washers that go on the drain and overflow under the tub that would be almost impossible to put into position unless you tacky glued them to the drain to hold them in place untill you tightened the drains.
If it is a small bath you may have to remove the sink & toilet too in order to have room to pull the tub. Also, if you have a cast iron tub, you need a strong back.
Anyways, my .02, hope it helps.

Jamesbo

Richard,

Maybe what I am visualizing would help clarify the situation.

Brick exterior wall with tub againist it then toilet on the bathroom side

Brick exterior wall with kitchen corner cabinet the stove on the kitchen side of the wall.

Right?

If I am correct, your plan to pull the stove, then work in from the side of the adjacent kitchen cabinet to the corner cabinet, to the back side of the bath wall sound like the best solution.

I know you've got a full plate. Good luck. If I may parapharse you. " Pulling the stove is your first bite out of the elephant.

MDchanic

If it's "just like working on the underside of your car," then I'd want a house rotisserie, 'cause it's always a b-tch working on the underside of your car .

- Eric

gearheads78

It does and thanks to everyone else trying to help too.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

missed that one flew right over my head.I had dug a tunnel once with another guy. Was a seniors complex, when the plumbers put the main sewer in they started at both ends, the ends were high and the middle was low What is needed is at least a 1/4 slope on 4 feet. **** don't run in both directions, well in this case it did and went no where.Then 8 inches of concrete was poured, with heated floors. When people where moving in, the sewer wasn't working, always plugged up.Then they figured what was the problem, another problem they had, they didn't even know where the main clean out was, I had to show them where it was. Then cut out sections of the hall way. So the myself and another guy have the job to dig out the pipe under the slab. We dug 21 feet to get to the clean out and about 3 by 3 round hole.little shovels and a home made sled to move this dirt, what fun. Just a good thing one of us didn't let one rip.

gearheads78

If this works this is the layout

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

so you have a lazy Susan in the corner? You could pull the door off if that gives you enough room to get at it. You cut the side of the cabinet out then you would have plenty of room then to get in there. That case you would be better to pull off the counter, as long you don't have tile for a back splash. Go from under the counter top, pull the screws out, unhook the plumbing from the sink and move the counter. Before you move it, take a knife and cut the silicone along the wall and counter

Jamesbo

Richard, Make SURE you can get to the tub drain STRAIGHT IN from the cabinets. You will never get to it from the sides.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

This way you will have plenty of room to work and less dust to contend with. To move the counter it would take 2 people.I would do this before I cut the cabinet. As long you use the same screws to put back in the counter top, you will have no worries.

MDchanic

It looks like you can get to it just fine by going through the cabinets, one way or the other.
As Kyle said, laminated countertops come right off - it's surprising how easily they lift up once everything is disconnected.

When you're all done, be sure to find the builder and punch him in the nose - there's no excuse for leaving you no access like that.

- Eric

Schne442

Richard if you are going to pull the counter top make sure that you break the joint between the counter and wall. lift the front edge and pull it straight away so as not to pull the paint or tile or what ever finish surface you have on the backsplash. Next remove all the screws from the faceframe from the cabinet and from the back frame rail. You should be able to lift the cabinet out of position and gain access to the wall. Ofcourse if the cabinet is sitting on the finished floor then you should be able to just slide the cabinet out without removing the counter top.Have you removed the toekick to see if the cabinet is set on the floor or was the floor installed up to the cabinets so that you cant slide it out.
Gary
X2 what Eric said about the builder

Jamesbo

X 3

I'll hold him down while you kick him in (^%(%)(

Lady72nRob71

It could be much worse. Take my big tub in the master... On the drain side of that tub, is the tile shower.
I would use the sump pump method ...

gearheads78

I was looking at my counter tops from underneath tonight and there is no showing anywhere and the are mounted solidly to the base. I am guessing there are screws from the top down under the lamenated tops.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

well how old is the counter, the screws should be in the front and back.Should be strips of wood going across the cabinets, front and back. Should be screws there.Or if it is a old counter top, may of been built in place, then ya you are done for. No choice but to go trough the cabinet.

Lady72nRob71

From the tub drain hole, can you see any evidence of the drain going through sand or dirt or concrete?
I was lucky enough to have pictures of the drain setups when the house was built. One tub drain was concreted, the other not (just sand).
(Given the ants, you might have sand there.)

If you are sure it runs through concrete, you would have to pull the tub.
I just hate to see you tear up the cabinets only to find the drain concreted under the tub. One room tore up is bad enough......

Jamesbo

Rob,

I think there should be a hole in the slab for the trap. I'm with you, I sure would like to know more before Richard starts tearing out counter tops and cabinets.

BTW Trying to dig in from the exterior is going to run into a footing for the slab and won't work IMHO

Oldsguy

Not wanting to pry into personal space, just trying to suggest something to help. Could you take some photos of the bottom side of the cabinets and perhaps that corner? It might help a few of these guys that have building experience figure out the best way for you to get in that corner.

gearheads78

The floors are built up to the cabnets so they can't be just pulled out.

Schne442

Short of a pair of X-ray glasses he is going to have to get into the wall to see what is going on,you are correct that the slab should have a cut out for the drain to sit in as it has to sit below the bottom of the tub. I would loosen the overflow cover to see if the entire drain broke or if just the drain tail piece. Eather way you have to get back there and using th least invasive way is preferable but at some point you have to do what ever it takes.I dont think anyone realy took the tunneling seriously.I would not discount going in through the exterior brick wall, it can be reinstalled and you would never see it from inside the house.I have a similar set up to yours in my kitchen and you can cut out the corner cabinet back panal to gain access to the wall but unless your 5-5 135 lb it would be verry dificult to do any work on the drain.
Good Luck
Gary

Lady72nRob71

Right - there IS a cutout under there for the trap.

However, after the trap is installed, and before the tub is set, some contractors will fill the hole with sand (good) and some will fill the hole with cement!
My builder did it both ways. The big marble tub drain cutout was filled with cement, the regular tub drain cutout was filled with sand.

With Richard's drain pipe being broke, I was hoping he could at least peek in and see what is under there.
HEY - get out the sawzall and just cut an access hole in the skirt of the tub itself if it is stamped steel. Just like working on a quarter panel. Afterwards just make up a cover of some sort...
Weld in a plate, sand, bondo, repaint!

gearheads78

The drain to the house is not broken. The part that is broken is the threaded piece under the opening of the tub itself. Once I get access behind the tub I don't seeing this as a big deal to fix.

Schne442

I would replace the entire drain assembly with a good brass one once you get it out to preclude this from happening again in the future.
I think that if you pull out the entire back panal on the cabinet you could sit inside and open the wall up. The more I think about it that is the way I would go.
KISS ( keep it simple stupid) LOL
Gary

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Yep you should have enough room in that cabinet, it's a bloody corner cabinet, plenty of room. When you cut the side of the box , make sure you have a good skillsaw blade with lots of teeth, you should get no less than a 40 tooth. The more teeth the nicer the cut.Give your self some level lines , cut fairly straight. Another thing you can do,when you are almost done, get some casing, install the casing around the piece you cut out and put it back in the hole. Nail the casing to the cabinet ,but don't use more than a 3/4 nail. You may get away with a 1 inch pending on the thickness of you casing Their you go clean from the out side and if you ever have to get in there again it will be easy

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Oh by the way, thanks for the KISS line. I will tell that one to the wife when were in bed tonight.lol

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Oh, hey stop before you do anything, light bulb came on. What type of tub is it, the old metal one's or an fiberglass tub. If it is a fiberglass tub the skirting may come off. Some tubs come like that so you can get access to the drains and this case may be why your tub is where it is. If their is a skirting that you can remove, you should tell very easy, be a deep line going across the tub.

Schne442

Yah!!! Some things just shouldn't be that complicated
Here is one I made up "Lets make like a nut and bolt" A couple meanings on that one

gearheads78

Its a cast iron type tub with the skirt incorperated in the tub.