Tub Anchoring

• When you originally install a bathtub, you must anchor the tub to the wall so the tub stays securely in place, no matter how much weight from water and a person is placed on the tub’s inside. The tub comes with anchor holes on its upper sill, but you do not need to use each of the holes. Instead, drive nails or screws through the holes that line up with the wall studs, which should be enough to keep the tub from moving around. You also must level the tub before anchoring it, since an unlevel tub may rock even a little even though it is anchored properly.
  
  

Tracing the Leak

• Many tub leaks manifest themselves as water damage on the ceiling or maybe a wall in a room on the floor below the bathtub. When you first see the water damage, it may be easy to jump to conclusions about the source of the leak. In reality, the leaking plumbing fixture or pipe may not sit anywhere near the water damage. Water takes a pathway of least resistance, meaning it may run along water pipes, floor joists, electrical wiring or other surfaces in the sub floor before dripping down on the ceiling or wall below. You must look inside the sub floor and trace the pathway of water damage to help narrow down the general area of the source of the leak.
  
  

Determining the Exact Source

• Once you determine the bathtub is the leaking plumbing fixture, you must then determine if the leak is coming from the water supply pipes or the tub’s drainpipes. To test out the leak, place a large container such as bucket inside the bathtub, just below the spout’s opening. Run the faucet for two minutes, capturing all of the water in the container so none runs down the drainpipes. While you are doing this, another person needs to be observing the subfloor area below the tub to see if any water leaks out. If there is a water leak, the source is a water supply pipe or the tub’s faucet. If there is no leak, the drainpipes are to blame for the leak.
  
  

Making Repairs

• You must anchor the bathtub properly before you can make repairs to either the water supply pipes or the drainpipes, since your repairs could quickly be undone by the bathtub’s movement. With drainpipes, you need to tighten all connections as well as straighten out any crooked lengths of pipe. If you find cracked or damaged pipes, you must install replacements of the same size and material. Water supply pipes may require a plumber’s hand to repair since the joints are welded, unless the leak is coming from a loose nut at the connection with the faucet.