Stinky Sink in Bathroom

Ok, you guys were great before, let's see how we do on this one.

I have a sink with overflow in bathroom. Boy does it smeeeeeel! Finally took a look at it today. Removed p-trap and found black ugly smelly stuff in the p-trap. Proceeded to go a bit further up the drain and removed the drain from the sink......not certain if the stuff I found was toxic or not, but I think I found my root problem.

The distance from the sink bowl to the bottom of the sink and the bottom of the overflow sink basin (where you tighten the washer/nut to secure drain) is about 1 1/4 inches. The distance from the bottom of the drain (metal piece now) and the bottom of the holes for overflow is about 3/4 of an inch. This leaves about 1/2 inch or so of space where the overflow drain cannot drain fully into the p-trap. In here there collected all kinds of slimy, smelly debris.

Here is my question, do they make drains with different size (length) overflow openings to accommodate different sized overflow openings?

This is a relatively new home (2 1/2 years) and I can only imagine if we did not find as early as we did.

Would appreciate any help here.

Thanks!

Rehab Guy

There is a possibility this can be adjusted out. Some drains have a flange that screws into or onto the drain tube. Normally that flange is screwed as tight as reasonable then the bottom nut under the sink is tightened. By loosening the flange then tightening the nut you could possibly get some adjustment. You may have to disassemble to see what you have. Worst case and handyman type of repair might be to cut the hole bigger to accomodate the drain.

Stinky Sink

No adjustements. The drain pipe is solid with threads. It has 4 openings so I would need to cut opening in four areas. Any suggestions on how to "easily" cut these deeper? I am about 3/4 of an inch away from where I need to be.

Thanks.

Rehab Guy

Mark where you want the bottom. cut down with hacksaw blade or metal blade in sawzall or other such device. Cross cut the bottom almost all the way then break out with pliers or some other implement of destruction. File corners to make it pretty. 1/2 pack of cigarettes, cup of coffee, 3 snorts of Jack Daniels... and you will feel like you've done a wonderful job.

Stinky Sink

I will need an awful small hack saw. Holes are only about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length and there are 4 total. It may be just as easy to look for a new drain with longer drain holes.

Rehab Guy

In the meantime, you can pour some bleach down the overflow holes to remove the smell.

Yep... or coping saw with metal blade.

Stinky Sink

Purchases 2 new drains from Lo*e's with overflow and adjustable flanges. Cleaned the overflow area and sink drains/p-trap really well inlcuding soaking in bleach. Installed 2 new drain valves (these had long enough cut outs) and the stink is gone!!!!

It would have taken me several hours to cut/file the holes in each drain.

Very glad you found the drain you needed. Most of the time we just assume that since it's the part we need that it is made for all applications...some do vary and there's often times several versions of "almost" the same item.

A non-hardware solution to the stinky sink overflow is to put a little bleach down the overflow for a cpuple of day. You can put some bleach in a squirt bottle, or use your turkey baster. Be VERY careful when handling bleach so you don't ruin clothes or carpet.

If you put it in a plastic bottle other than what it came in, find one that says HDPE in the little triangle symbol on the bottom of the bottle.

The black stuff and the smell will be back, though hopefully not as much as you've gone with a better design of pop-up assy.

What is that black ook that collects there? It's bio-degradable soap.

Run more water.

Bob NH said:

A non-hardware solution to the stinky sink overflow is to put a little bleach down the overflow for a cpuple of day. You can put some bleach in a squirt bottle, or use your turkey baster. Be VERY careful when handling bleach so you don't ruin clothes or carpet.

If you put it in a plastic bottle other than what it came in, find one that says HDPE in the little triangle symbol on the bottom of the bottle.

Click to expand...

Also be very careful you wear appropriate eye protection. Bleach, and other strong bases, are actually more harmful to your eyes than strong acids.

I think that bleach is actually a peroxide, not an alkali

Bleach is a base, the opposite of acid. Mix them together and the lil' chemist gets chlorine gas!

Kordts... I don't mean to argue the point... actually you are correct because the pH of chlorine bleach is 11 which is alkaline (base). Some would argue that it is even a salt because it is a combination of metal and a halide... Caustic soda (a base/alkali) is used in it's manufacture. Chlorine and hydrogen combine in water to give you hydrochloric acid. Put Caustic soda and sodium chloride together in water and run an electrical current thru it to produce sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach). Mix it with amonia (a very strong alkali) and you get a very dangerous gas....too long of an explanation for here....

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the anime/manga see Bleach (manga)
For other uses, see Bleach (disambiguation).

Commercial chlorine bleachTo bleach something is to remove or lighten its color; a "bleach" is a chemical that can produce these effects, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include a solution of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), or "chlorine bleach," and "oxygen bleach," which contains hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound such as sodium perborate or sodium percarbonate. "Bleaching powder" is calcium hypochlorite. Bleaching may be a preliminary step in the process of dyeing.

Contents [hide]
1 Types of bleach
2 How bleaches work
3 Hazards
4 History
5 Bibliography
6 References
7 External links



[edit] Types of bleach
Household bleach, also known as chlorine bleach, sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), has a pH level of 11 and is used in the home for whitening clothes, removing stains, and disinfecting. This is because sodium hypochlorite yields chlorine radicals—oxidizing agents readily reacting with many substances. Using chlorine bleach on garments made of wool, nylon, silk, leather or any amount of spandex will stain the garment yellow which is permanent or very difficult to remove.[1]

Chlorine bleach is often used with laundry detergents and is also commonly used as a disinfectant. Mixing bleach and cleaners containing ammonia, or using bleach to clean up urine can create toxic chloramine gases and an explosive called nitrogen trichloride.

Hair bleach contains H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), which gives off oxygen radicals as it decomposes. Oxygen and chlorine radicals both have comparable bleaching effects.

Various other peroxide yielding chemicals are used as bleaching additives. Sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate, sodium persulfate, sodium perphosphate, sodium persilicate, their ammonium, potassium and lithium analogs, calcium peroxide, zinc peroxide, sodium peroxide, carbamide peroxide, and others are commonly used in detergents, toothpastes, and other products.

Chlorine dioxide is used for the bleaching of wood pulp, fats and oils, cellulose, flour, textiles, beeswax, and in a number of other industries.

In the food industry, some organic peroxides (benzoyl peroxide, etc.) and other agents (e.g. bromates) are used as flour bleaching and maturing agents.

Not all bleaches have to be of oxidizing nature. Sodium dithionite is used as a powerful reducing agent in some bleaching formulas.

sodium hypochlorite
n.
An unstable salt usually stored in solution and used as a fungicide and an oxidizing bleach.

chlorine sanitizers can corrode equipment and should not be in contact with stainless steel surfaces for more than 30 minutes. Moreover, chlorine sanitizers should not be used on surfaces that are prone to rust. Also, the corrosive effect of chlorine increases with increasing water temperatures of chlorine solutions greater than 120 ° F.