I’ve done “some” finish plumbing in the past i.e. hook ups of the waste to sinks etc. I remember, however, the last little bit of work I did for my sister and her husband was a double sink with disposal. I seemed to have an inordinate amount of leaking on those “white” finish plumbing kits which include P-trap et al. Part of the problem I discovered was that the waste height was a little too high, and coupled with the deep sink depth, I don’t think I was getting a proper flow. I lowered the waste height and things seemed to improve, but I think my brother in law ended reworking a lot of the plumbing from waste to sink.
I’m wondering, given that those sink kits are kinda flimsy, are more of the pro’s or weekend warriors like me going to more ABS fittings till the absolute necessity of using the “white” flimsy pipe right out of the sink?
I ask this because I was in the Big Box today and there seemed to be a lot more ABS P-trap-type fittings with that transition coupling for the white piece (perhaps incorrect nomenclature) of pipe than I remember in the past. My thought for my house project (am installing cabinets now so some finish plumbing will be in order soon) is go with ABS and solvent weld connections till the four or five inches of white pipe comes out of the sink. There was a couple fittings; one with a small, threaded clean-out at the bottom of the U part of the P-trap that you basically create yourself with fittings.
I hope this is making some sense? Thanks in advance…
Replies
Around here, there's more white PVC than black ABS, but, yes, the pros tend to use the heavier, glued stuff right up to the point the tailpiece from the sink goes in. You have to plan carefully and be sure everything fits before gluing, because you don't get a second chance, but once done, things are much less likely to leak or come apart.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
And forget about opening it up to get out the diamond ring<G>
Most leaks from these cast plastic fitting come from the slight ridge left by the two mold halfs. Scrape this ridge off carefully and you should be ok. Note in these kits there is a strange divided "tee" which clogs real easy! Try to find an open or directional "tee" to use.
Ditto the ridge, after carefully removing it I often use a smear of White Seal or other type thread seal/pipedope on the compression washer and threads of the slip joint nuts.
Thanks gents for the help. I think I will probably go along the lines of what mojo is suggesting, especially in the kitchen sink with the two drains.
And like I wrote above, there does seem to be a "new" ABS P-trap that transitions from 1 1/2" to 1 1/4" (or the size of the tail pipe). This particular P-trap does come apart for that ring and contact lens issue(s). ;-) And yeah, lining up does have to be fairly exact as the tail pipe will drop down to that "fixed" ABS P-trap.
The kitchen sink will involve so much more pipe than a bath one, I think I may try to build up with ABS as best I can before going in with the tail pipe(s).
I don't know that the Big Boxes are too terribly innovative, it just seemed like there were some "new" type ABS fittings that I hadn't really noticed before and was wondering where the industry was going; they've probably been around for ages and only just got to the Big Boxes recently.
If you don't want the flimsy plastic pieces you can also go with the tried and true chrome plated brass.
Just don't send me the bill.
Bill, good point; I will undoubtedly use chrome plated ones on the two pedastal sinks in the masterbedroom. Everything else will be housed within cabinets that will probably fill up with junk so won't worry about that...
Or go to a real plumbing supply and get everything in schedule 40 PVC. More expensive than the flimsy prepackaged stuff, but less than the chrome plated brass.
Dave
Junk white crap $3/fixture
Chromed brass $15/fixture
Junk white crap call-back 1 hr driving 30 mins fixing $3 more in parts
Chromed brass no call-back
what's your time worth?
remodeler
i never use those prepackaged kits, way too many flimsy compression type fittings
i always use the brass "tail pieces" adaptors and then glued abs pipe and fittings
very rarely have a call back
caulking is not a piece of trim