Nobody plans a bathroom around a drain. You choose the tub, the vanity, the faucet — and the drain is the thing your plumber grabs from the truck without asking.
Which is exactly why it's worth knowing the name. Oakville Stamping & Bending has been making bath wastes, traps and drains in Ontario for decades, and if you live in Canada there's a good chance the parts under your sinks came from them. Here's why trades specify OS&B, and why the boring parts deserve more attention than they get.
An Ontario manufacturer, not a rebrand
OS&B manufactures rather than imports and relabels, and it has done so from Ontario long enough that its parts are effectively the reference standard in Canadian supply houses. That has three consequences that matter on a job site.
It fits. Tubular drain components look interchangeable and aren't quite. Slip-joint dimensions, tailpiece lengths, thread pitches and wall-arm geometry all have to agree, and mixing brands mid-assembly is how a plumber ends up making a second trip. A shop that stocks one manufacturer's system throughout doesn't have that problem.
It's available. Drains are a category where availability beats novelty. A plumber standing in a bathroom needs the right trap today, not in three weeks.
Parts exist separately. Individual components — a replacement stopper, a longer tailpiece, a different flange — can be bought on their own rather than as a whole new kit. That's the difference between a repair and a replacement.
What OS&B makes
Bath wastes and overflows. The assembly that drains a tub and prevents it overflowing, in the full range of mechanisms: cable-driven and linkage trip levers, push/clicker stoppers, toe-touch and lift-and-turn. Available in schedule 40 for concealed rough work and in finished tubular versions where the assembly is visible under a freestanding tub. Our guide to bathtub drain types explains which mechanism suits which tub.
Island tub drains. Freestanding tubs drain straight through the floor, which needs a purpose-built assembly and a rough-in placed before the tub is set — covered in our island tub drain rough-in guide.
P-traps and tubular waste. The parts under every sink, in the sizes Canadian plumbing uses and in both serviceable slip-joint and glued configurations. If you're not sure which size you need, see P-trap sizes explained.
Sink drains and pop-ups. Lavatory pop-ups with and without overflow, grid drains for vessel and overflow-less basins, kitchen strainers and basket assemblies. Browse sink drains.
Bottle traps and exposed assemblies. For wall-hung and console sinks where the plumbing is on display and needs to be finish-matched rather than hidden.
SERENITY: when the drain is visible
The SERENITY line is OS&B's designer-facing range — the same manufacturing, specified for bathrooms where the drain is part of the composition rather than an afterthought. It matters in three situations:
- Freestanding tubs, where the waste and overflow is visible from across the room and a mismatched chrome drain under a matte black filler is genuinely distracting.
- Wall-hung and console sinks, where trap, tailpiece and supply stops are all on show.
- Vessel sinks, where the grid drain sits at eye level in the bowl.
The range extends the finish palette well beyond builder chrome, which is the whole point: a drain that matches the faucet costs a little more and finishes the room.
Getting the finish match right
This is where most projects slip. The faucet is chosen carefully; the drain is ordered later, in whatever's stocked, and a polished chrome pop-up ends up under a brushed nickel faucet.
Two rules. First, order drains with the faucet, not after it. They're small parts with the same lead-time risk as anything else, and deciding them together is the only reliable way to match. Second, chrome, brushed nickel and matte black cross brands reasonably well; golds and bronzes do not. If you're matching a warm metal, compare real samples or stay within one manufacturer. Our drain finish cheat sheet covers which finish names travel and which don't.
And remember what else comes in finishes: supply stops, escutcheons, tailpieces, tub trip levers, shower grates, disposal flanges. In a bathroom where the plumbing is exposed, those small parts are most of what you see.
Measuring before you order
The most common wrong-part return in this category is a bath waste and overflow ordered without measuring. You need the tub's depth to the overflow centre, the distance between drain and overflow, and whether the existing mechanism is cable or linkage if you're retrofitting. Our measuring guide is a ten-minute routine that prevents the wrong-parts cycle entirely. The full range is in drains.
Frequently asked questions
What does OS&B stand for?
Oakville Stamping & Bending — an Ontario manufacturer of bath wastes, traps and drains that has supplied the Canadian plumbing trade for decades.
Can I mix OS&B parts with another brand's drain components?
Sometimes, but it's the most common source of leaks and second trips. Slip-joint dimensions and thread details vary just enough between manufacturers to cause trouble. Staying within one system for a given assembly is the safer approach.
Do I need a special drain for a freestanding tub?
Yes. Freestanding tubs drain through the floor and need an island tub drain assembly, with the rough-in positioned from the specific tub's spec sheet before flooring is installed. A standard alcove waste and overflow won't work.
Is it worth paying more for a finished drain?
Where the drain is visible — freestanding tubs, wall-hung sinks, vessel basins — yes, without much argument. Where it's hidden inside a vanity cabinet, a standard finish is fine and the money is better spent elsewhere.