I have to remove the U-trap below a washbasin drain, all PVC pipe installed about 1987 -- and am unsure how much force to exert on the nuts at both ends of the U-trap section. Would these nuts have been cemented with some sort of PVC solvent or just Teflon plumber's tape?
They should not be cemented. If its been a while since its been removed, use a channel lock or pipe wrench. Worst case you could always cut it and put a new U-trap in.
You might want to just change it out while your at it. They are amazingly cheap. The new one should not take much more than hand tight.
disassemble clean and dry all parts.
reassemble using silicone bathtub caulk on all joints/ let dry at least a hour. the parts are junk quality, really cheap.
this idea stolen from a plumber who came to fix a joint that leaked for me. I ont like doing jobs twice so I silicone them from the beginning.
nice thing is things dont leak but come apart easy when necessary
Thread hijacking here- I just changed a clogged metal trap for plastic. Clog was in the wall, but since I had it apart anyway, figured I may as well put in new. Anyway, it all went back together, but the damn joints leak, even using channel-locks to tighten 1/8 turn past hand-tight. I suspect an alignment problem, but 3 assembly attempts didn't make any difference. Any ideas? would teflon tape help? Never needed it before.
aem sends...
The PVC plumbing under the kitchen sink likely was leaking, and the last guy who had this house silicone caulked the OUTSIDE of all the joints. He must have been an interesting guy...we have been undoing his work for 5 years:(
There is a small leak we can't find...but sometimes the floor is wet and it always smells damp and funky under there.
Rip it all out and start over? It has to wait for money available. I*s there a dye or something we can use in the drain to see where it is leaking?
The 2 sinks are joined by PVC pipes coming from the sinks to a right angle fitting, run about a foot of level pipe, and meet in the middle at another rt angle fitting and go down a common drain. It was clogged up badly...one sink water level would rise when I plunged the other. I fixed it by using 2 plungers...one in each sink, with a helper, and plunging the he** out of it. Now it runs free. The dishwasher drain is plumbed into one of the pipes so close to the sink that it shoots up into the sink, fills it, and the DW fills with water after running if the sink is slow draining It's one of the worst setups I have ever seen, but we need to live with it for a while.
Any thoughts? Debi. Is a one-way valve a good idea for the DW?
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