Need advice on bathroom sink p-trap

[funwithpowertools]

Hello all. I am in the final stages of adding a master bathroom to my house. I have gone the "official" route and gotten a permit and had each stage inspected.

My problem is the vanity. There are two drawers on the right hand side and the height that the drain comes out of the wall is the same as the runner for the top drawer. I ended up creating a Frankenstein p-trap. Actually, a more accurate description would be "roller coaster". It seems to work fine but I don't know if I should leave it this way or not. Also, in two weeks I have my final finish inspection. I don't want to have to rip everything out again.

I have enclosed a couple of pictures so you can get an idea of what I am working with. The piece on the top is the Studor vent. The wall behind the vanity is an outside wall and there was not enough clearance in the attic to get a vent pipe through.

As you can see, after the "standard" p-trap, it connects to a piece of accordion flex tubing and this flex section rises about 1-1/2 inches.

If I have to change this, I have two options:

1. Rip everything out. Cut a hole in the drywall. Cut the PVC and lower it about 2 inches and then route the drain between the two drawers.
2. Rip everything out. Raise the vanity about two inches. This should allow for a "normal" p-trap without a rise at the end.

I live in Douglas County in Colorado. I believe they are on the 1993 or later international standard.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Option #1 one is your best bet and lose the 90 up coming through the wall.


That's an S-trap configuration that is no good.

No accordian type pieces allowed in drain lines either.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jimbo]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is not going to cut it.

First, I can't believe any inspector would accept that flex trap arm. It would certainly cause you a lot of headaches.

Second, as I see the pictures, the trap arm slopes up from the trap to the san tee. That is not acceptable.

If you read this forum much, you will know most of us are not fans of studor vents, but if your jurisdiction allows it, then do what you must.


I will get on my high horse for a minute and say you should have planned the drain before buying a vanity with a drawer in it. They are often trouble. Short of getting a different vanity, I am at a loss about how to fix this, but there are other guys here with more creativity than me, so stay tuned, Someone will probably be able to help!

 

[funwithpowertools]

That's what I was afraid of...

Well, I am not looking forward to pulling everything out. However, I am very anal about all the remodeling work on my house _not_ looking like "the idiot homeowner" did it. So, I don't really mind going back and redoing this part. This is my first bathroom and my first plumbing project, other than putting in a water heater and water softener. It's definitely been a learning experience. I'll open up the wall and lower the drain opening and then I'll post more pictures of the finished job.

As for the Studor vent, I totally agree. It was my last resort. I had the plumbing inspector look at it and he said he also did not see another way to do it. As I mentioned in the first post, the wall is an outside wall. On top of that, the wall is at the back of the house rather than the side so there is no clearance to be able to cut through the headers and put in a vent pipe. Everything else that I put in the new bathroom (toilet, shower) are vented normally and to code.

So far, the only real problem I have with the Studor vent is the gurgling sound it makes. But it's only been there for a few weeks. I am not a plumber so I am just going to hope that it does not cause problems. Also, I didn't use any PVC cement on it. The fit was really tight anyway and I figured that if I ever had to do anything with it I wanted to be able to change it out without having to cut PVC and possibly replace the whole works.

Thanks again for the quick response.

Bill

 

[RioHyde]

Since you're going to have to cut into the wall anyway in order to eliminate the need for the flex connection, I'd run an arm over then 90 out into the sink space of the vanity. This way your drain will be in the correct spot and there will be no more concern about the drawers nor any need for the flex connection. From the pics, looks like your elevation will be ok after that 90 looking up is gone though you MIGHT need a 1-1/4" tailpiece extension.

Good luck

 

[41Fever]

As it appears from photo's you MAY be able to turn the 90 and miss the drawer rail. Or eliminate the drawer & just put the drawer "Face" on. However, given the fact that your glue fittings are hub to hub now leaving you no stub to reattach to, best bet is pull vanity and move the piping into the area of the sink drain. Sometimes it is also easier to "Offset" the drain out of the wall a bit instead of running it directly in line with sink drain. This gives you a little "wiggle" room with the trap's swivel.

 

[TedL]

I would also lose the white flex supply lines and replace with the stainless braided type.

 

[hj]

drain

1, the flexible connection has to go.
2. you have to lower the drain or raise the sink.
3. While lowering the drain you might want to move it laterally so the drain goes directly into it.
4. The AAV usually specifies a 6" riser under it.
5. Gurgling is not good, but it depends on whether it happens while draining or afterwards.

 

[funwithpowertools]

How does this look?

Here's the latest. I pulled the vanity and cut a hole in the wall and replaced the drain plumbing. I also got rid of the plastic flex hoses. Unfortunately, at the Home Depot I was at they only had the expensive "floodsafe" connectors in 1/2x3/8. Most of their hoses were 3/8x3/8 or 1/2x1/2.

You can see the new layout in the picture below. I haven't put the solvent on yet so it's not permanent. The drain pipe comes up where the outlet is. I put in a tee with a 90 elbow on top to make the right turn for the AAV to come out of the wall on the right side.

I wish the drain were higher (both for storage space and because I think it looks more professional) but I ended up going with an extension tube and it works fine. Also, there is no longer any gurgling sound when I drain the sink. The AAV is now as high as it can go. It almost touches the underside of the counter top.

Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it.

Bill

 

[TedL]

I was initially impressed by the idea of the Floodsafe lines, and bought a bunch for my planned replacement of faucets in my new (to me) house. Then I checked out experiences, and they can be a PITA. One thing noted is that when the safety valve shuts off, per instructions, you have to disconnect to reset. ( I would expect you could actually accomplish the reset by closing an upstream valve and opening another water outlet, thereby revieving pressure, but don't know for sure.)

Watts also sells as a benefit that it will shut off if the flow limiter is removed from the faucet. Just keep that in mind when you remove the aerator to flush the new installation before use.

Or do as I did, and return them for standard stainless lines.

 

[Coz]

you should have came out of the wall with pvc used a socket union socket ptrap with an 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 desanco would be cleaner and less prone to leak.
what you have looks fragile