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The Story Behind Antique Bath Fixtures | Ask This Old House

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Plumbing and insulation
By sanny goldman
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Ask This Old House plumbing expert Richard Trethewey gives a history lesson on bath fixtures and piping.
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Steps:
1. Richard explains the current system most homeowners have in their bathrooms. It’s a bath, waste and overflow system. There is a drain which includes a stopper, activated by either a lever or a foot pedal in the drain. The system also includes an overflow. That is a hole above the drainage pipe in the side of the tub. If the tub ever gets too high, the water will begin to seep down the drain and not flood the house. Richard then shows Kevin the P-Trap. A bit of water sits in the trap at all times to keep sewer gas from flowing into the house.
2. Next, Richard goes back in time to see how one of the first plumbed bathtub functioned. The spout, hot and cold valves sat on a claw foot or Essex tub. Richard shows Kevin how the drain worked by pulling up a stopper at tub level.
3. Richard then shows Kevin a drum trap. The drum trap works on the same principle as the P-trap. A bit of water stays inside to prevent sewer gas from coming back inside. However, it was so large and inaccessible, hair and other debris could fill up inside. Using a snake would not be able to clear it out either. A drain snake may actually pope a hole in the lead-based drum trap because lead is so soft. Richard goes on to explain the fittings on the drum trap were also made with lead and actually melted and hardened onsite in the homes.
4. Finally, Richard shows off old piping. Lead pipes were once very common in plumbing. Lead was followed by brass fittings and eventually the more modern copper and PEX tubing.

About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we’re ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O’Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.

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The Story Behind Antique Bath Fixtures | Ask This Old House
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Comment (0)

  2. I assume that the top of that drum trap was an operable lid for removing said scum when the drain flow slowed down, but what I don't quite understand is if these traps were manufactured on site why they would create what appears to be a second outlet only to plug it with molten lead.

  7. I used to own an 1876 tub that I slept in. It was pretty rusty. I kept all my tools in it, which made it hard to sleep, I always thought such a tub would make a great koi pond, except for one thing, the damn thing already weighed around 800 lbs. So I figured if you filled it up with water and added fish it might sink through the floor what do you think?

  10. I have a drain like that and it actually DOES have an overflow. There is a second set of holes farther up on the plunger tube and when the water level goes above that, down the drain it goes.

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