Pop-up drain plug required in bathroom sink?

When I went to buy faucets for a bathroom remodeling project, I was told that a pop-up drain plug is required to meet "national code" -- whatever that is. (Or it could be an FHA or HUD requirement or some such, I suppose.) It was explained to me that if I don't put one in now, I'll have to put one in if I ever try to sell the house.

The problem is, I hate pop-up drain plugs. To me they are just a Mickey-Mouse contraption that's got to be cleaned, fixed, and probably replaced in 5 years. Just a Rube-Goldberg goop collector to decorate all that beautiful gleaming chrome artwork that required a second mortgage. And we never even fill the sink.

Am I being fed a line here? Will I really have to replace all that great plumbing just to sell the house? (I'm not planning to, but in 10 years, who knows?) Do I have to buy a faucet with a pop-up drain just to satisfy some bureaucrat who never had to clean or repair one? Should I buy a faucet with a drain plug, but install a real drain (you know, one with a hole all the way through it) and leave this useless knob just hang there -- or can I just buy something I like? Suggestions?

You could leave the pop-up in the bag, put it in the back corner of the vanity, and install it in 5 minutes or less when you go to sell the house.

Yeah, that's what I might do. But no, it wouldn't take just 5 minutes. I would replace the whole drain. Because that's just the way I do things.

But do you happen to know if there is anything to what the salesman told me? That's what I really need to know.

I have to ask...why would you replace the whole drain rather than just dropping the pop up into it? "Loose" installation is an option for all the pop-ups I've seen. I really don't understand...................that's taking anal to a whole new level.

If you remove the pop up you will know one of the reasons it is there when you drop something down the hole and try to retrieve it.

You can install a grid type drain to prevent things from falling in.

The main purpose for the pop up is to fill the sink.

Personally I never use the pop up and don't know many people who do.

Cass said:

Personally I never use the pop up and don't know many people who do.

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Precisely. It's useless, I don't like it, and it's just one more thing to clean and maintain. My preferred alternative is to install a straight drain with no obstructions and get a little removable strainer that fits right in the top. That works perfectly, and it's easily cleaned.

I notice that no one has attempted to answer the question. Does anyone know whether a pop-up drain plug required by some code or other?

no, no and no

there is your answer. Talk to another sales person.

Don't insist that you would re-do tons of plumbing either. Please.

david

Thanks. So the salesman's statement was bogus, then.

And no, I wouldn't redo tons of plumbing. Just the valve and the top 6" of the drain -- worst case.

Let me put it this way. The faucets I'm looking at don't have pop-up drains, and I don't want someone insisting later on that I change a perfectly good faucet.