Bathroom Drain Problem - Please Help!

[JB412]

Hi all,
I'm hoping for some advice that will save me much time and effort. I removed a vanity from an upstairs bathroom in hopes of replacing it with a pedestol sink. In setting up the new sink I discovered that the existing drain pipe was about an inch too long from the wall, and needed to be cut back. While I was out getting a few parts, a friend of mine (perhaps ex-friend now) dropped by the house and my wife told him of the problem. Well, he decided to "help" me and used a pipe wrench attempting to unscrew the ABS drain pipe! I now have a deformed piece of ABS pipe that I now have to somehow cement a fitting to in order to install my drain. The drain in the wall has a tee which is used as a common drain to an adjacent bathroom vanity. I'm trying to avoid having to cut the wall open and dismantle the adjacent bathroom's drain to try to replace the tee if at all possible. I am able to force a female fitting over the deformed pipe but I'm worried that the gap at the flats (see pics below - flats at 2 o'clock and 8 o'clock) won't seal. I was also thinking of putting on a ton of glue/cement in thos areas and sealing around the end of the fitting with something (??). Any advice would be appreciated. (The gap at the flats appear to be about 1/8" in the fitting).

Thanks for any help!
Jerry

 

[Jerome2877]

Take a hacksaw blade and carefully cut the pipe inside the fitting then use a flat head screw driver and pry the pipe out and glue a new peice in.

 

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[Gary Swart]

Forget about salvaging this mess. Let me explain why. ABS (and PVC) are man-made substances and are not "cemented" or "glued" together. While each of these materials are chemically different, the basics are similar. The so-called glue use on them is actually a solvent that liquifies the surfaces of the fitting and the pipe so when the joint is made, the surfaces flow together and form a chemical weld. The fittings will not conform to a misshaped pipe. You have no options but to open the wall and do what has to be done to repair the damage. Now, keep in mind that drywall is relatively easy to patch, so cut out enough to give yourself plenty of room to work. A large patch is no more difficult to fit than a small one. If possible, cut for the center of one stud to the center of the next which will make nailing the patch easier.

 

[Gary Swart]

The problem you will have trying to cut the old pipe and prying the pieces out is it is next to impossible to get the pieces out and leave a smooth surface for the new pipe. You will have to make several cuts and pry the individual pieces on one by one. If you try that and it works OK, then you will save the patching. If it doesn't work, you can still cut the wall.

 

[JohnjH2o1]

You need a one of these. There not expensive and they work great.

http://www.pascospecialty.com/catalog/PASCO_CATALOG_C.pdf

John

 

[hj]

quote;

Take a hacksaw blade and carefully cut the pipe inside the fitting then use a flat head screw driver and pry the pipe out and glue a new peice in.

I COULD DO IT, but if he tries he will crack the "cross" inside the wall and have a major remodel job on his hands. To use the "fittingsaver bit" he will have to cut the pipe flush with the hub in order to leave a round pipe for it to fit into. It will NOT go into a deformed pipe. With friends like that he does not need ANY enemies. I am sure that when he got done damaging the pipe, he said, "Oops, well, I've got other things to do. Good luck with your drain connection".​

 

[JB412]

OK, first thanks for the responses. From reading the responses (esp. HJ's) it sounded to me like the best option was to do some cutting on the wall. So, that's what I did. I searched the big box stores trying to find this fitting (I think it's called a Double sanitary reducing tee) but was unsucessful at finding one. Then I read another forum discussion from someone in Canada, and got the impression that this wasn't the correct way to do a back to back lavatory drain. Now I'm really confused. Will I be able to find one of these and is this OK to cut out and replace?

 

[hj]

It is the wrong fitting, but whether anyone has the correct one in your area is something we cannot tell you. Why not bite the bullet and call a plumber to remove that pipe stub, rather than spending more time and trouble replacing the fitting? One possibility with the correct fitting is that it might be wider than the space inside the wall.

 

[Hackney plumbing]

OK, first thanks for the responses. From reading the responses (esp. HJ's) it sounded to me like the best option was to do some cutting on the wall. So, that's what I did. I searched the big box stores trying to find this fitting (I think it's called a Double sanitary reducing tee) but was unsucessful at finding one. Then I read another forum discussion from someone in Canada, and got the impression that this wasn't the correct way to do a back to back lavatory drain. Now I'm really confused. Will I be able to find one of these and is this OK to cut out and replace?

View attachment 15093

Cut the pipe flush with the hub of the fitting,removing the deformed pipe. Then use the pasco fitting saver to remove the old pipe out of the fitting. Solvent weld in a new piece of abs. Too bad you've cut the wall open.