New Bathroom Vanity - DIY Plumbing

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Feyd83

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My husband and I just installed a new bathroom vanity from Ikea. The house was built in the 1970s. Water pipes are copper and the drain line is ABS.

We ran into a few challenges because the Ikea faucet connections were 1/2" instead of 3/8" and were also not long enough. We used a 1/2" male-male adapter to join the Ikea connections to a 1/2" to 3/8" supply line. Replacing their supply line all together was not an option because of the strange way it connected into the faucet. We probably won't be buying an Ikea faucet for our next bathroom project.

We also moved the vanity over a few inches to the left so it would be more centered in the space and not right up against the wall. This meant that our drain line was off as well. I have attached pictures of the solution my husband came up with.

We are curious to know if this is against code in any way or whether it is a problem to use the "twist" connectors to connect the PVC drain pipe pieces.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

plumbing.jpg
 
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hj

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THere is nothing "wrong" with it, but it is not the most secure way of doing it, because those extra slip joints can fall apart if the pipe is bumped.
 

Feyd83

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Thanks for the feedback so far.

So we decided to redo the drain line because DH forgot to put teflon tape on the slip joint connectors or somehow did them wrong because they were leaking like crazy.

He bought the stuff so he could do regular cemented PVC pipes. However, he bought a couple of rubber 'banded' type size reducers to use. I have attached a new picture. I am not sure about these rubber things because they seem very flexible and the section of pipe in between them is wobbly.
 
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Dlarrivee

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There is no new picture.

Teflon tape for slip joints... not proper.

Rubber couplings... what for?
 

Feyd83

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Sorry, was having a hard time getting the picture uploaded. It is attached now.

DSCN2319.jpg
 

Dlarrivee

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So why are the rubber couplings being used?

If you have abs, why not use abs for the piping under the sink...?

You've got just as many points for failure as you did before...
 

Feyd83

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We were told that PVC was better (I guess not many people use ABS nowadays?). He says he used the couplings so the drain could easily be disconnected. Apparently there isn't much length left on the ABS coming out of the wall.
 

Dlarrivee

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Mixing materials isn't going to be better...

If the Ikea sink has a weird tail piece on it, I would source out a 1 1/4" drain/tail piece and use a proper trap adapter rather than the rubber reducer and 2 slip joints...
 

Feyd83

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Ok thanks for the feedback. We are going to keep an eye on it and see how it does.

Unfortunately the whole drain assembly that came with the Ikea sink is integrated with the oddly-sized tailpiece so we probably won't try to replace it right away unless we see some issues with it. We understand that it is not the usual set-up.

DH thinks the problem with the slip-joint connectors was that the pipes were not aligning properly. So far the ones coming out of the sink drain have not been leaking.
 

hj

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You have shown how to take a ''simple job" and make a project out of it, and since those rubber couplings, especially the grey one at the sink are NOT "legal" it is not much of an improvement. I would have done it differently with a less material and LESS time, and it would still be removeable. Proper slip joints NEVER need teflon, in fact it does NOTHING to help them seal.
 

Terry

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Teflon Tape should only be used on a tapered thread:
Tail piece into the lav drain body
Shower arm

A slip joint nut and washer works best when clean. No goo and no tape.
What you had in the beginning was fine.
 

David D'Agostino

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I did the exact same water supply hook up using the 1/2" male adapter, but mine leaks! Did you use those lousy little washers supplied by ikea with the faucet or something else? I would greatly appreciate your help on this as I cannot make another trip to the hardware store without pulling my hair out!
 

David D'Agostino

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Thanks for the response. The flex lines that I purchased at the hardware store have no issues. Where the leak is is where I connected the 1/2" adapter to the ikea faucet flex line that came with it. They are different and have only a rubber washer which does not work. If you just used stock washer with faucet, then I have done something wrong. Again,much appreciated.
 

hj

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quote; We were told that PVC was better (I guess not many people use ABS nowadays?).

In this area, you might spend a lot of time looking for PVC drain fittings. I, and the other plumbers in the area, have ONLY used ABS for the past 40 years, (so I would say that "more than a few plumbers use it).
 

anthonyloeffler

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Thanks for the response. The flex lines that I purchased at the hardware store have no issues. Where the leak is is where I connected the 1/2" adapter to the ikea faucet flex line that came with it. They are different and have only a rubber washer which does not work. If you just used stock washer with faucet, then I have done something wrong. Again,much appreciated.

I have the exact same problem that you have David - the 1/2" female connection on the supply hose for the cold water part of the faucet has a black rubber o-ring that is supposed to seal against a male brass fitting. It does not seal the connection. I tried leaving it somewhat loose, then tightening it and testing it several times, still with no seal. After it failed as tight as I could get it, I took it apart and the rubber o-ring was torn apart. I tried it again with a fresh o-ring with the same results at increasing levels of tightness. Any idea on how to get this to seal? How did you get it to work?

Thanks,
Anthony
 
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