Ikea Braviken Sink - Need Specailized Plumbing?

[Snapplez]

Here's the story. Ikea is selling a new line of bathroom sinks (Ikea Godmorgon System - Braviken (BRÃ…VIKEN) sink). These are nice sinks with a huge fullsize drawer. The kit comes with the sink, drain, and pvc plumbing for the waste. Faucets are sold separately.

A unique feature of this sink is the drain does not need to drop into the vanity. This feat is accomplished with a specialized drain strainer and tight 90 degree elbow (see photo).

I am looking for a way to use a different strainer to match the finish of the non-ikea faucets. I doubt I will find a drain that will fit with the ikea pvc, so am interested in replacing the drain outright. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find replacement parts for this type of drain in the local stores and Ikea does not (and will not) sell replacement parts.

I am looking for a replacement drain with a similar configuration to the Ikea setup, or a way to build something that will work.

Your guidance and wisdom are appreciated!

 

[Jadnashua]

This is my non-pro opinion...

It appears that either there's a drum trap at that 90 at the back, or that it is designed for p-trap down lower. This means that that horizontal section will accumulate hair, soap scum, etc. and be above the trap, so therefore can start to smell nasty. There's a reason the p-trap is directly under the drain.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Seaofnames]

I'd measure the sink drain hole opening and find some kind of pipe attatchment for it..even a no hub cupling right below the drain hole to some standard PVC/ABS would work.


I dont think any plumber would ever recommend that pipe system for the sink. I dont know how ikea gets away with selling that crap without a trap in it.

I've attatched a pic on what it could look like if you use the vertical branch and part of the horizontal run, just adding a trap before it all.

That drain hole is really the only problem I see here especially because it is from ikea and will be metric sized everything.

If you dont have a trap, you're gonna smell crap!!

 

[Sjsmithjr]

Bottle trap it is, complete with flexible tailpiece(s). Just an opinion, but like most plumbing and electrical things that come from IKEA it is junk, albiet pretty junk, that should be illegal to sell. Come to think of it, I couldn't even find screws for the drawer pulls my wife brought back from there. Good luck!

 

[Seaofnames]

Bottle trap it is, complete with flexible tailpiece(s). Just an opinion, but like most plumbing and electrical things that come from IKEA it is junk, albiet pretty junk, that should be illegal to sell. Come to think of it, I couldn't even find screws for the drawer pulls my wife brought back from there. Good luck!

What the hell is that pipe system???

That should be illegal!!!

 

[Snapplez]

seaofnames: I really have *NO* idea what the configuration that sjsmithjr posted is, although this is the exact image that is currently included on the Ikea website.

I've stared at it and can't even make sense of it. I'm not sure if they changed the plumbing to the RINNEN system or if they got rid of RINNEN and replaced it with *whatever* that thing is.

Here is the plumbing that I got with my sinks. There is actually a p-trap with this setup but I forgot to include it in my original photo. A diagram is below.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make this work. The concept seems to be fine in principle.

Also - the pipes do not appear to be metric only. In a test, I was able to connect the setup to standard 1.25 inch US plumbing.

pipe detail

front view

side view

 

[Redwood]

Take the damn thing back and save yourself a bunch of trouble!
IKEA is bringing in this crap and they are the only place you can get all the funky adapters required to mate up to their junk.

5 years down the road do you really think that IKEA will still have these funky drains in stock when you need a part?

Think!

 

[Furd]

I don't see how this is functionally different from a bathtub drain. You have a "shoe" that couples to the sink and exits horizontally a short distance to the side of a Tee, the top of which appears to have some kind of mounting to the underside of the sink.The sink overflow is piped to a Y under the drain connection which then goes to a conventional P trap.

It is certainly not a "bottle" trap nor does it have a corrugated tailpiece. The corrugated pipe is for the overflow and as such will rarely, if ever, drain hair or soap scum.

Now what was the original question? Oh yeah, different strainer to match the faucet. You're probably out of luck there.

 

[Badrenokarma]

We just purchased a similar Ikea cabinet (two sep sinks) and we are also experiencing problems with it. The pipe at the back does not extend far enough down to match up with the pipe that comes out of the wall. We got some extra pipe and were going to add an extention piece, but the main tubing does not fit US standard size (other parts do). There's only so many times we can go back to Home Depot! We're probably going to rebuild the plumbing right from the drain hole in the sink using a different drain plug. Good luck with your renos

Standard 1-1/4" tubular pipe sizing

 

[Redwood]

Good gosh isn't it sinking in yet?
This stuff is complete non-standard garbage!

Take it back and buy your fixtures from a reputable plumbing fixture supplier.

 

[BeeBee]

The sinks themselves clearly are not the problem, however the pipes do seem pretty crummy. Is there any way to simply buy all new pipes to fit the sink?

I wouldn't mind buying an Ikea sink, and then, if necessary, throw out the pipes that it came with and go purchase some quality pipes and plumbing materials.

Is that possible?

 

[hj]

drain

There is a lot about that piping you have that leaves us with questions. What is the opening on the top if the branch on the side is for the overflow. There are a couple of U.S. companies that use a drain like that for their bathtubs and it appears that the "strainer" part for them would fit your drain. If so, companies like Trim-to-the-Trade, which produce aftermarket trim parts may have a strainer in the color you want. Trying to make a Do it Yourself drain assembly might be difficult because of the overflow.

 

[Alan Muller]

It is what it is....

It looks like usual European sink drainage hardware to me. It gives more storage by moving the trap back, but has other disadvantages.

Aside from the drainage issues, will you be satisfied without a mixer faucet?

 

[Stickers11]

I don't think the piping is crap....maybe non-standard, but oddly enough it is made in Germany. I'm in the process of installing it myself. Looks like I will only need a coupling going from 1.25" to 1.5". And no, I'm not a plumber so forgive my terminology.

I'm not the biggest IKEA fanboy, but I will admit that they provide the complete package. They don't just provide a sink that requires a special trap design and leave you to figure it out yourself. The faucet looks pretty decent and comes with braided lines to hook it up...can't see them being any worse/better than what I would buy at Rona.

 

[Esquire]

Would an offset drain, much like the ones we install in barrier free restrooms work in this situation? It's almost the same but you would be removing the crazy little section at the back and all the material would be of a quality finish. actually looking at it the only limitation would be that I haven't given you a solution for the overflow. But I know you can get nice chrome finished offset po plugs that would serve your purpose. I'm going to looking into the other part today on my journeys for my own curiousity.
What are the two plugged pieces coming off below the tee on 45* angles there for?

 

[Parkerman]

I looked at sinks and vanities all over and didn't think spending $1000.00 more provided me with much better quality than what IKEA offers. However, I do have to agree that the plumbing included with the Godmorgon sink is pretty sketchy.

Having little plumbing experience, it took me a while, but I was able to retrofit a drain system that I have a lot more confidence in.

Here is a link to the finished product:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/parkerman/4302237395/

If you browse around my linked flickr page you can find more detailed views of the connections.

 

[Marty53]

i'm sure more experts will respond. But from what I've learned here, thats not a legit drain setup at all. you can't use a vent-T on its side like that, you are supposed to use a wye after the 2 individual traps. there was some reason by code that you can't install a bath sink the same was as a kitchen sink.

 

[theBigSee]

I saw these sinks at IKEA and really liked them too. But I decided against it mainly because of the depth of the sink -- just seemed too shallow. Looks great though.

IKEA stuff is pretty disposable. If I were to buy one of these, I'd order a couple drain assemblies at the same time and stash them away for the inevitable failures, and then I'd just plan on replacing the whole thing in 5 years or so. I'm not a big believer in buying heirloom-quality products for the bathroom -- like kitchens, bathrooms need updating every 10-20 years.

 

[Kyaustin]

Overall works fine for me

We installed this sink with the Ikea plumbing, hooked it all up ourselves up to the point of attaching to the drain pipe in the wall. For that we used our plumber to make that connection, it was cheap, it was easy and it has been working fine. This plumbing can be a challenge for the do it yourselfers because Ikea's piping gets you down to the drain pipe but you have to figure out on your own how to make the connection to the house drain. Ideally I'd rather have a heavier grade PVC than what Ikea gives you, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice to get a full two drawer unit under the sink.

The only thing I'd caution you on is the shallow sink does splash a lot if you have good water pressure.

 

[JJ9]

special fittings to install IKEA bathroom sinks?

IKEA is still (in 2010) selling sinks with the Rinnen ABS piping and trap. You don't have to use the Rinnen kit, though without it more of the space in the vanity will be taken up by the P-trap. I have a single Lillangen sink that had no problems accommodating the Delta Dryden faucet and popup waste that I ordered before selecting the sink. Connecting the overflow of the Braviken sink might be a problem, though, unless you can fit a dishwasher drain hose nipple somewhere in the waste line (I have no idea if code will allow this anywhere other than just above the P-trap). The multiple projections you see on the Rinnen kit are for a washer drain hose hookup (Europeans cope with lack of space by installing washers in kitchens or even bathrooms, legal in most countries is if the machine is more than a certain distance from the tub or shower). One thing you should not need to worry about is European plumbing fittings being "metric". The vast majority are not (3/8", 1/2" and 3/4" fittings are common), and the Rinnen piping is 1 1/4".