replacing bathtub drain cover when old screw is rusted

12 years ago

The cover (strainer type, very standard type) on my bathtub drain came off years ago when the screw holding it in place broke/rusted off. I've been lazy and just left it off, but now I want to replace it with a new cover. But, I can't get the old screw out. The head of the screw looks to be completely gone (rusted away). I can't grab enough of it with plyers or a wrench to get it out.

Hope that makes sense. Any suggestions on how to get that screw out or put on a new cover?

Thanks!

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Comments (3)

don92
12 years ago
Your best bet would be a screw extraction bit. You can find them at Lowes or HD. Its just a bit ($5 -$10) you put in your drill that will go counterclockwise, drill into the screw and back it out.
izzie
12 years ago
I just replaced mine. I was falling apart/crumbling. I didn't have the tool mentioned. I very carefully used a small dremel with a "grinding/cutting" wheel I found in my husbands hobby stuff to cut it in two and gently used a small chisel. The tool is probably best, but it turned out o.k. with me. FYI, the guys at Menards recommended using latex caulking material when replacing the new one. I didn't have much luck with that and used plumbers putty. I am a total novice though.
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maurenemm
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you! Luckily, I got out of having to try to fix this. But I looked into that screw extraction bit - pretty neat.