I don't know too much about these particular things, but if you're worried about ABS not being up to it, consider that all your drains or most of them are probably abs or pvc and glued and properly handled, it can last indefinitely.

Brass can too, unless the water's aggressive. I imagine either's fine, but if you went for the Kohler type, those lever things tend to clog with hair etc and second, if you have to get to the mechanism to fix it, will you be able to?

WASTE & OVERFLOW 101

Primarily there are two types of waste & Overflows, the conventional slip joint type and the permanent installation type.

If the finished tub is a free standing clawfoot type or if the built-in tub will have a 12" x 12" service access panel either through an adjacent wall or up from underneath we are permitted to use the conventional slip joint type waste & overflow.

Slip joint type waste & overflow kits are generally manufactured from ABS, PVC or lightwall brass tubing which may or may not be plated for final appearance.

If there will be no service access we are required to use a permanently installed waste & overflow.
The premanet type brass waste and overflow has heavy guage brass tubing and all joints must be soldered. Although the permanently installed brass type are seldomly used in single family residential work they are often required in institutional applications(schools, hospitals, nursing homes etc) or in commercial residential applications (multi-family residential structure exceeding 3 stories in height or having four or more living units).

The permanent type ABS or PVC waste and overflow kits provide the overflow head, the tub shoe and the Tee connection. All required tubing is made up in the field from sched.40 PVC or ABS pipe and all connections are permanently glued in place.

Code prohibits glueing dissimilar plastic piping materials so the choice between PVC or ABS is determined by which product is used to make your house DWV (Drain,Waste & Vent) piping.

There are basically three types of stoppers available, lift & turn, toe tap or lever lift type. While they may not all be readily available at your local hardware or home supply store, all waste and overflow kits are available with the differant types of stoppers or they can easily be converted in the field.

Thanks for the replies. Makes sense to me that since the remainder of the DWV system is ABS that it would be OK to use ABS for the overflow. Just wondering if brass has any advantages? Perhaps if I go with the plunger type of stopper, the brass could last longer due to the plunger going up and down and eroding the pipe (unlikely in my lifetime though I would imagine - I'm 30). Perhaps the increased rigidity of brass would prevent some flexing of the tub in the drain area preventing some possible leaks? I have absolutely no experience with this so I'm wondering "what would a plumber choose"? If all choices of stoppers are the same between ABS and brass, would ABS be the better bet or would brass be better? The DWV for the tub will be at the front of the tub behind a tiled apron/skirt. If required, I can access it from below at a later date by cutting a hole in the laundry room ceiling.

Quote-"If required, I can access it from below at a later date by cutting a hole in the laundry room ceiling."

The fact that you would have to cut an access rather than simply open a service access panel door indicates that this will be a concealled location, therefore you are required to use the permanent glue in or solder in type waste & overflow and P-trap.

The good news is that an ABS glue in type will cost a fraction of what a brass type would cost and the expected life of the ABS is longer than the expected life of the brass.

The part about the expected life of the ABS being longer than the brass is exactly what I was looking for. Installing an access panel won't be a problem. I plan on cementing all of the ABS joints nonetheless. I just figured that if it was drywall, a leak would show through more quickly than with an access cover (water drips on to metal then drips down on to floor where it doesn't get noticed).

Thanks for the assistance Lazypup.

Regards,

Dan