P-trap Skewed

[randynavarro]

Sorry, no photos.

I'll try and describe as easy as I can.

Tailpiece comes off the bottom of the sink, then hits an 1/8 turn elbow (30 deg. or so), then hits the trap.

In essence, the trap, instead of being plumb, is now rolled over on its side about 30 degrees. I called it as sloppy and incorrect but now can't find specifics.

Anything wrong?

[fqp25]

Is this elbow on the vertical or horizontal?

[fqp25]

Sorry just read the post again.

Yes very sloppy, most likely a blind Do-It-Yourself-er.

[Bob White]

From what I see in the IRC and IPC, the trap seal's gotta be between 2 and 4 inches. If your skewed trap has that, it just may meet the MINIMUM standard.

[Chris Bernhardt]

With it being skewed like that do you think that the water seal depth dropped below 2"?

Otherwise I don't know why rotating the trap a little would be a problem.

Chris, Oregon

[randynavarro]

The trap assembly is "standard" size. No worries about the 2"-4" depth.

The only concern, I guess, would be the water seal can be broken if the angle is too much and causes the water to "lie" over and cause a gap. How much angle is too much? The only code text I can find is the trap has to be level. Nothing about plumb.

This was a condo conversion. All the units (80 or so) are probably all the same way.

They installed new, contemporary vanity cabinets in place of the old ones. The new ones have 6" legs instead of solid cabinet to the ground. This elevates the bottom of the cabinet higher than the original. The outlet in the wall is still the standard 16" above the floor. The top of the cabinet, however, is also elevated. It finishes at 36" instead of the old 32" or so.

I know . . .sorry for the mental fatigue trying to picture it all. You probably have to lay it out to understand how they got the drain and trap to fit.

My contention is they didn't make it fit so well. They should have elevated the outlet in the wall.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by randynavarro

The trap assembly is "standard" size. No worries about the 2"-4" depth.

The only concern, I guess, would be the water seal can be broken if the angle is too much and causes the water to "lie" over and cause a gap. How much angle is too much? The only code text I can find is the trap has to be level. Nothing about plumb.

If the trap isn't plumb, it won't scour properly. What you've described is wrong. I'd just say that the traps are installed incorrectly and that a plumber should fix them. If someone wanted to argue with me, I'd tell them that they'd have to first produce a diagram or instruction sheet from the manufacturer that supported their argument.

- Jim Katen, Oregon