Several years ago my stepfather came to visit and helped us gut and refit the main bathroom in my home. We replaced many of the fixtures including the tub, which was a cast-iron built-in affair that weighed 300+ pounds. After ripping it out, we replaced it with a better and much more well-insulated Vikrell tub. When we installed it I made a rather bad decision when it came to the tub drain. I selected a drain that had a cantilevered plug. If you pushed it down on one side where CLOSE was embossed the drain lid would plug the drain and you could take a bath. By pressing OPEN on the opposite side you would break the seal and the drain would pop open and the water would empty from the tub.

I do not like to take sit-in-a-puddle-of-water baths, I 100% prefer simple military-style showers: In, Wet, Wash, Rinse, Dry. No fuss, no muss, no dillydallying. Scott however depends on hot baths to help him sleep and help his asthma. This tub-plug has been a definite source of irritation as of late as it’s been getting more and more difficult to operate the drain assembly. Over time I started to see this fancy drain assembly as a problem and not as a convenience. Last night Scott took another bath, and when he exited he pushed the OPEN side of the drain lid and deep down the drain lids carriage snapped off. This morning I noticed the lid was at an odd angle and I decided to investigate before my after-workout-before-work shower and the entire lid and it’s support assembly came right up and out of the drain. The drain itself was not damaged so it leaks, but you can see where the carriage snapped off. Now I have a simple tub drain hole where the lid used to be.

My initial response and my reaction to discovering this was to thank my stars that this drain assembly failed. I’ve been quietly rooting for this exact thing to happen and now that it has I can replace the overwrought cantilevered-lid bullshit with a nice, old-fashioned rubber drain stopper. In this regard I see it as a kind of natural evolution, something stupid broke and made room for what should have been there all along, something from the past, something simple and convenient and RIGHT.

So tonight after work I will go to Lowes and look into buying a 19th and 20th century drain plug. It is going to make Scott’s baths and anyone else who would like to take a bath in our house so much happier. This event has also taught me that some things are unnecessary and some things have been over-designed so they beg failure. So something that Scott initially felt bad about was actually a cause for celebration!