Understanding Your Home's Bathtub Plumbing

Understanding Your Bathtub

Plumbing is one of the most used utility systems in the modern home. Whether it is providing hot water for washing clothes or supplying clean drinking water, the plumbing system stays busy to be ready whenever fresh water is needed. The bathroom is usually where most of the plumbing system’s work happens. Bathrooms are a hotspot for plumbing because the home’s piping has to provide hot and cold water to at least three different points of use: sinks, toilets, and bathtubs. 

While sinks and toilets have their own plumbing concerns, this article will primarily share information about bathtub plumbing.

The Importance of Knowing About Plumbing Systems

As a homeowner, knowing the plumbing system basics is important. Not every homeowner needs to be a professional plumber or attempt DIY repairs, but a general understanding can help navigate potential problems when they arise. Understanding how plumbing systems work can make a homeowner more aware of when things aren’t working right. It can also help when the time comes to explain a plumbing issue to a plumber!

The purpose of plumbing is simple: provide clean water and remove dirty water. The first part, providing clean water, is accomplished through the main pipes that distribute water around the home. The second part, removing dirty water, is accomplished by a simple network of drains that link up to a sewer to quickly and easily remove waste. 

Bathroom Plumbing Explained

Bathroom plumbing is hardly more complicated than the rest of the plumbing in a home. Two pipes serve fresh water to the bathroom, one for hot water and one for cold water. The hot and cold water pipes will feed both the sink and bathtub, while the cold water line also serves the toilet. This is true even across different types of bathtubs.

Drain lines tie all of the points of use in the bathroom together as they catch the dirty water and waste that leave the tub, sink, and toilet. The drains are visible in sinks and toilets, but the drain for the bathtub is sometimes hidden from view under the floor. 

Important Details of Bathtub Plumbing

Because of what the bathtub does, the plumbing is specialized to carry out its duties. Bathtubs have hot and cold water lines serving them. These pipes can be made of copper or PEX. The water lines will meet behind the wall at a mixing valve so that the person using the bath can control the water temperature. 

The mixing valve is also fitted with a diverter that allows the person using the tub to choose between taking a shower or bath. The drain of a bathtub is identical to that of a sink in that it contains a p-trap to prevent sewer gas from entering the bathroom when the tub is not in use. The p-trap can be especially vulnerable to clogs, so it vital to take measures to keep hair from going down the drain. 

About Guardian Plumbing and Drain

Guardian Plumbing and Drain is a plumbing contractor that proudly serves the Cobourg, ON area. Some of the services they offer are hot water tank installation and burst pipe repair. Thanks to their 24-hour emergency service, Guardian Plumbing and Drain’s customers are never left without plumbing services when they need them.

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