I need to remove a brass cleanout in a floor drain. It has a raised square head and is likely 1".

Its stuck. I tried soaking it and I tried heat... not sure if my technique is right but it didn't budge. The concave of the floor drain makes it impossible for me to get a good grip with a wrench.

Im guessing its time to destroy it but don't know the right way to do it... please advise.

you can get a short piece of steel pipe to slide on your pipe wrench handle to give you more leverage and tap it with a hammer

the brass plug is probably hollow rather than solid. you can cut the head off which should leave you a hole in the center that you can use a sawzall to cut a couple of slits from center to outside. easy does it so as not to do too much damage to the female threads.

cheater isn't going to work since I cant get a grip with a pipe wrench.

As far as cutting it... so once the hex is cut off its hollow then I make slits.

The pieces will pull right off the threads? That's something I always wondered about.

In addition to the cutting method I also read about using a hammer and chisel? But I am thinking a hammer and chisel would be an attempt to turn it... rather than cut it open as Packy suggests.



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i've never had much luck with hammer and chisel. battery sawzall works fine for me.
cut out the center, make 2 slits about 1/4 inch apart and THEN use the hammer and chisel to knock out the 'piece of pie' you just created. a little maneuvering and the rest just pops right out.

I have had great luck using a hammer and chisel to "drift" the plug.