wrong drain height

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lars

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Looking for advice. I am finished with the bathroom remodel and I am putting in the sink. It has a shelf and the wall opening for the drain is just above the shelf. This sink has a T p trap: it may be called a bottle decorative p trap. It drops into a bulb and the pipe to wall returns to the drain 3 inches above the bottom of the trap. I do not want to tear open the wall again plus there may be vent issues if I raise the drain. I did not foresee this dilemma being a novice. I want to put an elbow to raise the drainage pipe that goes to the T. I do not think it will create a siphon because of the design of the t trap; meaning it has to be full of water to push up to drain. I am willing to try it and and if it doesnot work tear apart the wall.
Any thoughts?
 

Cass

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Pull the cabinet and cut the wall. If you don't it will not drain right, will hold water and start to stink, and then you will have to pull the cabinit and cut the wall........why do you want to put off today what you will have to do tomorrow.
 
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Geniescience

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lars said:
... raise the drainage pipe that goes to the T. ...
Ditto.

But just to be sure we are talking about the same things, let's review: water flows from the sink, down its drain, into the bottle trap (a P trap that looks like a T), and then water flows through a horizontal pipe coming out of that T. Water has to get connected to the pipe in the wall, but....

Is the hole in the wall too high or too low? Compared to the pipe that has to go into that hole. (Actually, it's a pipe sticking out of the wall, not a "hole").

When you say "elbow" do you mean two elbows in an S shaped pipe? (That is called an offset.)

David
 

lars

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re drain height

Thanks for the replies. I see all of your points. The drain is too low. I will have to cut the wall and raise it. I cannot cut into the shelf because there is a drawer there. I did not want to but that is what I get for not looking closely at the specs. I had the whole thing down to studs but thought the drain would be okay. I originally was going with a pedestal but got talked into a piece of furniture.
My biggest concern is messing up the vent which because it ties into a vent stack 2 feet away. That would change a small hole to taking apart the whole wall. Either way that which was simple is now complex.
 

Geniescience

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i'm not convinced. Drain too low? Then you can extend the length of pipe leading from the sink down to the bottle trap. Lower the bottle trap. Then, pipe from bottle trap, and wall drain hole, are now both at the same level.

Why is this not going to work? Please repeat the part that explains why this is no good.

david
 

lars

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thanks for the reply genie. The pipe in the wall that the horizontal pipe would go into is too low. The bottom of the bottle p trap will end above it. I could use elbows to raise up to the horizontal drain pipe coming out of the trap( above the bottle). It would seem that water would stay in the bottle and form a trap even if the outlet drain was below. I can do it with a combination of pvc and chrome. I have not gone to a specialty plumbing store to look for similar chrome pieces( it will all be exposed). In essence it would be a horizontal s trap at the end.
I had considered hooking up the pipes and seeing if it caused a siphon and smells. It would not be that hard to take apart if it did not work.
Bottom line : do you think it will work?
 

Geniescience

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instead, get a longer "tailpiece" pipe. Web search on "tubular" and chrome, and look for sink tailpieces. You can also use 1-1/4" as a key word. Include the little hyphen.

Do not keep talking about using a bent pipe to allow you to keep the P trap at whatever height it is at now. NO.

Instead, answer every question I have asked, about lowering the P trap.

You must have the P trap installed so low as to allow that horizontal pipe that comes out of it, to go straight into the wall drain pipe.

david
 

lars

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okay. the only way to install the p trap correctly here is to cut open the wall and raise the drain pipe. The consensus here and what I have read about p traps is that they have to be installed as designed or they will not function. S traps from what I understand are only a very last resort.
I probably will have to raise the drain outlet 4-5 inches.
 

Geniescience

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wrong again. Sorry to say so.

huh, why did you not answer that question?

no, no. Lower the p trap. Use a longer pipe.

lowering the p trap is using it as it was designed to be used. That first piece of pipe (the vertical one, from the sink) is the one thing you can vary.

hope this helps clear things up.

david
 

lars

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thanks, I cannot lower the p trap. If I do , I have to cut into the shelf and drawer. The sink is a top on 4 posts with a drawer at the bottom. The outlet in the wall sits right above the shelf. Hence , I would have known this if I looked at the specs closer.
 

Geniescience

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new solution proposed.

ok, got it.

1.) Raise the sink and that whole piece of furniture it is on, by putting the four legs on minipedestals glued under the legs. Custom made.

2.) Use a longer tailpiece pipe (a straight vertical pipe) to go through the shelf (drill a 1-1/2" hole) and locate your P trap out of sight under the shelf.

If this works, tell me it does.

david
 

lars

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thanks for your thoughts on my problem. I will look at it tomorrow. I did think of cutting the legs but I think just moving the drain will be easier. I will reply when it is fixed.
 

lars

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fixed

I cut out the drywall and for 3.28 in parts I raised the drain to the right height. I checked it 4 times before I glued the pvc. The vent was no problem. I went back and looked at the specs. There was no height for the shelf . I would have had to put it together to get the height.
Not happy about having to redo the drywall but there are worse things.
 
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