# Bathroom sink pipes - does this look right?



## gruntman (Sep 19, 2008)

I have been having problems with my bathroom sink draining slow since I purchased our house 3 years ago. I have 4 girls in the house so Im sure that has something to do with it but could this be contributing?


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Yep!!

I get so angry when I see something like that!!!

Why didn't they open the wall and replace the tee with pvc before they tiled?

You will have your hands full trying to replace the old p-trap--The p-trap and tail piece extender should be replaced with new 1 1/4 pvc. 

Looks like a nasty job now that the pipes are tiled in.

Good luck. By the way--your camers takes a nice picture!--Mike--


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## gruntman (Sep 19, 2008)

Darn, I was afraid of that - how do I handle this?

Thanks - Its a Canon Powershot SD900 10 megapixels.


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## adpanko (Jun 18, 2009)

That flexible tail piece extension will quickly collect whatever non-liquid junk gets washed down the drain. So I'm sure there will be a nasty hairball in there. Unfortunately, because of where sink tailpiece and the drain from the wall are located in relation to each other, I think a flexible extension like that is your only option without doing major work to either move the drain behind the wall, or move the sink.

The good news is that it is a simple task to take apart the P trap and that flexible extension and clean out whatever is stuck in there.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Is there a nut on the pipe as it goes into the wall? It should look like the nuts on the rest of the p-trap.

If so you will remove it and the p-trap will come out of the wall.

Can you get a close up shot of the pipe as it enters the wall?

I'm about to go grocery shopping--I'll check back on you later--Mike--

Any one else feel free to chime in.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Quick note : the old crome pipe shows signs of age and corrosion--do not touch it unless you are ready to replace it---it may crumble to bits .


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## gruntman (Sep 19, 2008)

OK - I cleaned out that white part and put it back. It popped out pretty easily and was full of some debris. Here is a close-up of the pipe coming out of the wall.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

You are in for a bit of work. The old chrome p-trap is leaded in --with a slip fitting over the leaded tube.

The right way to fix this is to remove the vanity--open the wall to expose the drain/vent pipe and tee.

Sawsall out the tee and enough of the vent and drain to allow you to replace the fittings with pvc and a couple of rubber boots.


This work should have been done BEFORE the tile work and vanity was installed.

Now you see why I was cursing out the guy that left the old plumbing inside the wall.

The job is simple enough--getting to the pipes now is more work than the plumbing work..
Good luck,--Mike---


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## jonathan03 (Dec 30, 2008)

Well before you open the wall did cleaning the flex pipe fix the problem? Most of the time the clog isn't in the wall, but rather in the P trap or flex hose. So you may have fixed it by just cleaning that. 

Is this a second floor bath or first floor? Do you have a basement or crawl space under it? If you can get to it from below, you might be able to make one less hole. It will still take a hole behind the vanity though. 

Your tile is white though so its easy to replace. Maybe you can chisel out the four tiles around the pipe if you do have to open the wall.


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## rudolph58 (Mar 11, 2009)

that looks like a 1-1/4" mip adapter screwed into the ci tee then leaded to the p trap.u might try removing the adapter by spraying wd-40 or what ever on the threads,let it soak awhile then see if it will screw out but like previously said,be prepared for the worst!


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## RegeSullivan (Dec 8, 2006)

Is it leaded in or is the j-bend soldered on to a piece of copper that is solderer in to a brass adapter? If it is the latter, why not de-solder the j-bend and solder on a brass desanko?


Rege


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## Tonglebeak (Dec 28, 2009)

Out of curiosity, is there anything wrong with perhaps having the drain pipe, slant at an angle on its way to the p trap?


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## NHMaster (Dec 21, 2009)

It is swetted onto a piece of copper. Unswett it and swett on a trap adaptor and go from there.


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## jacksplumbingvideos (Nov 23, 2020)

You cant use a flex tube like that. You need to 45 degree elbows to have them meet up.


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