Thank you Bruce. Unfortunately, I do not have a claw foot tub, mine goes to the floor and as I said, the edge where the tub meets the tile was sealed with a bead of silicone. So I can't look underneath.

When I look at the pictures and diagram in the link I posted above, the red area is wider than the pipes, and this is where (in the drawing but not the photos) it looks like holes around the interior that We assumed were weep holes. The red area seems like it would catch any water that might leak if the leak was around the flange,Yes, this unit was installed into the subfloor floor from above, after the pipes were laid between the joists. So, we did not have to get access through the ceiling below which is what these drain connectors are designed to allow.

We cannot see the water swirling as it leaks. These modern popup drains have large covers that prevent us from seeing anything. Even the flange is fully covered by the cover. One reason why we don't think it is the popup not sealing is that we have pushed hard on the popup when it is closed, and we still hear water draining. We also tried a white rubber drain plug instead of the popup and pushed hard on it too and still hear the water draining.

I'm not really familiar with that type of drain, but weep holes seem out of place in that area. The reason I say it is out of place is that if water was draining too fast for the P-trap or the trap was plugged, water could then rise up and come out of the weep holes and onto the floor. It would be much more typical that a plugged trap would make water rise up and into the tub where you could see and deal with it.

Bruce

Good point about a water backup. Maybe the holes we' re seeing on the diagram are an illusion. I guess we wait for the new drain and hope that's a fix. If not, who knows.

Edited to update:. I've determined that it definitely the flange. The tub is molded so that there is a slight recess or well around the outside of the flange. I left the drain off, and slowly poured a small amount of water in the tub near the drain. It went into the well around flange and disappeared under the flange. Looking down inside the drain, I see slits in the side of the drain near the top and I assume this is how the water that goes under the flange gets into the drain. This would explain why there is no water leak in the ceiling below.

The next meeting with my contractor and plumber should be interesting.

Hey... im having the exact same issue. Can you tell me your resolution?

Hi! It was determined that the tub was not set properly. They had to pull it out and reset. Once that was done, i have had no issues. There was no problem with the tub or the drain that was originally received with the tub. Just a poor plumber who didn't take pride in his work. Love my tub!