What's the best 1 1/2 inch P-trap to install?

[nestork]

I have to replace the P-trap under a bathroom sink in an apartment that's going to be vacated December 1st. I have a favourite in mind, but I'm wondering which 1 1/2 inch ABS or PVC P-trap other people would recommend and why.

Obviously, I'd want a P-trap that's adjustable with clean-out. I don't want one that glues together because then I can't take it apart to clear the overflow channel on the bathroom sink. And, it's important to have a clean out because I regularily get tenants that tell me they dropped something down the sink drain.

Also, I'm thinking I may end up replacing all the bathroom sink P-traps in my building because I'm finding that if I take one apart, no matter how meticulously I clean both ends of it, there's still a good chance of it leaking on me once I put it back together. I haven't been able to find a P-trap that uses a replaceable O-ring to make a seal, but I know of one that uses a polyethylene gasket instead, and that's what I'll go with unless someone brings something better to my attention.

I'm hoping people in here will suggest P-traps they think are good so that I can see what's available. If I end up replacing 21 bathroom sink P-traps, I don't want to find out that there was a better one I could have installed, but didn't.

[recyclebinned]

[DerbyDad03]

It seems like something from here or a similar commercial supplier would work. They may be a bit costly up front but I'll bet it would be a long time before you had to replace one. Discounts for volume are usually available.

I have no relationship with this site, it's just a suggestion found via Google offered as a place to start.

[Fat-Dumb and Happy]

These are plenty good enough for residential use, a lot depends how the old pipe is connected to the pipe in the wall. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it takes some creative plumbing, nothing a lot of roofing asphalt can't fix. The plastic is easy to take apart and screw back together when the need arises.

[nestork]

Thanks for everyone's input, but I'm looking for an ABS or PVC P-trap, not a commercial brass or chrome plated brass P-trap.

[DerbyDad03]

Why? Doesn't your subject line say "best"? Wouldn't a commercial grade trap be better than anything made from ABS or PVC?

[nestork]

A cast brass P-trap that you have to solder into place, that you can't remove and that doesn't have a clean out would not suit my needs well.

By "better" I meant an ABS or PVC P-trap that would be better suited to my needs.

[DerbyDad03]

Did you look at the products offered at the site I linked to? They aren't solder in place and they have clean outs.

Here's an example:

[Vic Smith]

IME experience those seal washers for PVC traps are reusable, but I often have to dope them up with teflon paste or silicone caulk. They do distort somewhat. Using a new washer might help.

Never had to do it though. And these washers might have a slightly different shape than the original that came with the P-Trap. IMO a clean-out just introduces another leak point.

Since it seems you can't depend on consistency in washer size and shape with P-Traps made by different manufacturers - I've had some

1 1/2" parts that didn't fit well with others - this might be my preference if I had as many to maintain as you do.

BTW, I would never use a metal P-Trap. They corrode, simple as that. Never had a PVC P-Trap go bad. Never.

[nestork]

Derbydad:

Thanks for your response, and I acknowledge that I didn't see the brass P-trap you linked to in your post.

But, when I bought my building, ALL of my kitchen sinks had brass P-traps like the one in the photo, but mine were all soldered together rather than adjustable. The problem I had with them was that the clean out had a fine thread on it, and I found that the brass on those threads would dezincify. That's where the brass turns reddish brown and crumbles under the force of a screw driver. I replaced all those circa

1960 commercial brass p-traps with ABS P-traps. I expect brass metallurgy is better today than it was in 1960, but I just don't see the need to buy a brass P-trap for several times the cost when plastic stands up to water and time so much better.

[nestork]

This web site won't accept my posts if they're longer than a few lines, so I'll respond by breaking the response up into several posts:

Vic Smith;3152546 Wrote:

I think you may have misinterpreted what I meant by a "polyethylene gasket".

I think you're thinking I meant these things:

No. I can't find a picture of the polyethylene gasket that the PermOSeal P-trap uses online, so I'll describe it. If you can imagine two of those beveled washers end to end so that the thickest part was in the middle and the polyethylene tapered thinner to both ends, and if the thing was 2 1/8 inch in inside diameter instead of 1 1/2 inch, that would be the polyethylene gasket in CanPlas's PermOSeal ABS P-trap:

'Plumbing'

'Product Specification'

You can barely see the polyethylene gasket in the cross sectional drawing and it's poorly illustrated too. It fits into a bevel in the socket and it's compressed between the ball and socket as you tighten the union nut.

[DerbyDad03]

I'm not arguing, but while it may be true that plastic stands up to water and time better than brass - at least compared to the old brass - you have listed other issues with the plastic traps, e.g. the o-ring.

It doesn't matter if the plastic lasts forever if you can't reseal them after you take them apart.

It seems to me there that are reasons that commercial traps are more expensive. Perhaps a couple of those reasons are longevity and serviceability. A trip to a plumbing supply house for an inspection and some up- to-date information might be advisable here.

[nestork]

Brass traps are more expensive because they're made of brass.

I've lived long enough to have come to the realization that just because something costs more, it isn't necessarily any better. It's DESIGN that matters. A good design will beat an expensive price every day of the week.