Am I screwed? (plumbing question)

[ivwshane]

I'm finishing the remodel to a half bath and I'm at the point where I'm installing a pedestal sink. Unfortunately I did not measure and take into account exactly where the sink would be placed so now I have a problem.


What are my options for connecting A to B? I just added waynes coating to the wall and I would really, really, hate to have to tear it out to redo it. Is that my only option?

[JTimmons]

How about a couple of elbows end to end to form an "S" between A and B? You may have to shorten B a bit though.

[Popeye]

They make traps with longer tail pieces. Go to a big box or better yet if you have a "real" plumbing supply store around go there. Take your dimensions and they'll hook you up. ......plumbing is fun.......as long as you can afford to hire someone else to do it Pat

[leehljp]

I know HD has flexible pipes for sinks but they are not good if they have a level plane in the snaking from the sink to the drain. They tend to trap and build up more than smooth pipes. If it is more of a vertical drop, they might work.

[jseklund]

Screwed? HARDLY! This is an opportunity. You pick up this simple device from Target or Wal-mart-

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-4/qid=1161008508/ref=sr_1_4/601-9014737-1172131?ie=UTF8&asin=B000FPXQPG

And not only will your water not go all over the floor, but you'll always have water to put out fires in your shop.

Joking aside- I think either flexible tubing, elbows, or a different A pipe would be my first searches.

I think on something like this you can do it, as long as you ALLOW yourself to think creatively enough. A lot of people get afraid of doing certain things and miss the solution because they are uncertain of themselves. I'm no plumber, but a hacksaw and pipe threader may cross my mind in a situation like this- after all the easier solutions have been explored.

[leehljp]

Screwed? HARDLY! This is an opportunity.
I think on something like this you can do it, as long as you ALLOW yourself to think creatively enough. A lot of people get afraid of doing certain things and miss the solution because they are uncertain of themselves. I'm no plumber, but a hacksaw and pipe threader may cross my mind in a situation like this- after all the easier solutions have been explored.

That is a good answer! Agree 100%. Go for it. I had a young fellow tell me shortly after his father's funeral "Dad always told me the hardest part in doing something was getting started." "Just get started" he would always say. That young man is a wealthy man and had a fine father.

[LCHIEN]

in my house the drain pipes are all slip joints including the p-trap. By buying longer sections or cutting them you should be able to make everything adapt with the slip joints (including twisting the P-trap pieces to align with the sink which may not be in line with the drain in the wall.

A few minutes with a knowledgeable plumbing guy at the hardware store whould work to help you select the right pieces.

[ivwshane]

I looked into getting the flexible tubes but they seemed really cheap and they looked like they would eventually end up clogging.


I don't mind building my own p trap but I wasn't sure if they were built the way they are for a particular reason.

But if I can buy a couple of elbows and a straight piece to extend the p trap then I'd rather do that.




But you guys are right; maybe I'm trying to hard to find a solution! I do have a tendency to over complicate things

Thanks for the tips!

[DaveW]

I can't remember what the post was about, but there was a thread recently (within the last year?) where someone was trying to sell their house, but the home inspector indicated that the flexible pipe used in the drain wasn't allowed by code - you might want to check into that before going that route.

[Hellrazor]

Flexible pipe is not legal...

[dlminehart]

One of my bathroom drains had this kind of problem. The solution was a ~2" adapter sleeve, each end of which tightened down on drain tubing, one tube from the wall, the other from the trap. No problems with leaks in 10 years and counting. You will probably be able to come up with an extension tube from trap to wall that works without the sleeve if you go to a good plumbing store.

[mleichtle]

I recomend opening up the wall, and doing it right. Thats what I would do, but I'm picky that way about my own house.

[dkhoward]

Use three "A"'s ... it becomes a rather complicated p-trap arrangement that can be manipulated to fit almost any configuration of distance from stem to down pipe.

[430752]

sleeve pipe

I had a similar problem when I did the same job a few years back. my a (trap) and b (drain pipe) were off by like an inch or so. I did measure, but didn't account for the gap when everything gets tightened down, which I guess means I didn't really measure, correctly.

Anyway, I tried using one of the flexible j pipes, the accordien type thing. Yep, it worked in physically connecting. But, the pressure of having to bridge the gap meant it never quite sat correctly and always dripped.

My wife called the plumber. he was done in 30 minutes. He cut the straight pipe coming from the wall (between the wall and trap) with a sawzall, used hose clamps to attach a flexible sleeve of rubber, about 3 inches long or so, to both ends, and thus got everything to line up correctly. he, of course, installed a proper metal trap after that. I didn't ask if it were code, but since then I've had two other plumbing jobs in my house done (it seems I just can't get plumbing right), in other areas of the house, and they've all used the ruber sleeve trick to bridge stuff. Of course, my house was built in 1928 or so, and thus they may be using the rubber sleeve to bridge from galzined iron pipe to plastic, or from brass to plastic, or from whatever pipe the plumbers go "wow, I have'nt seen that in years", but whatever, you get the idea.

[edit: sorry, just went back to look at your diagram, it appears you have no straight pipe coming from the wall? if not, then you may not be able to do what I stated, since not sure how the sleeve will work in the middle of bend. If no straight pipe, you want to consider redoing ir properly.]

good luck,

curt j.

[ivwshane]

I had a similar problem when I did the same job a few years back. my a (trap) and b (drain pipe) were off by like an inch or so. I did measure, but didn't account for the gap when everything gets tightened down, which I guess means I didn't really measure, correctly.

Anyway, I tried using one of the flexible j pipes, the accordien type thing. Yep, it worked in physically connecting. But, the pressure of having to bridge the gap meant it never quite sat correctly and always dripped.

My wife called the plumber. he was done in 30 minutes. He cut the straight pipe coming from the wall (between the wall and trap) with a sawzall, used hose clamps to attach a flexible sleeve of rubber, about 3 inches long or so, to both ends, and thus got everything to line up correctly. he, of course, installed a proper metal trap after that. I didn't ask if it were code, but since then I've had two other plumbing jobs in my house done (it seems I just can't get plumbing right), in other areas of the house, and they've all used the ruber sleeve trick to bridge stuff. Of course, my house was built in 1928 or so, and thus they may be using the rubber sleeve to bridge from galzined iron pipe to plastic, or from brass to plastic, or from whatever pipe the plumbers go "wow, I have'nt seen that in years", but whatever, you get the idea.

[edit: sorry, just went back to look at your diagram, it appears you have no straight pipe coming from the wall? if not, then you may not be able to do what I stated, since not sure how the sleeve will work in the middle of bend. If no straight pipe, you want to consider redoing ir properly.]

good luck,

curt j.

Thanks.

I just ended up adding an "S" curve using two 45 degree elbows in between A and B.