Drainage Problem, Please Help.

[cartman44]

I have just installed a new kitchen sink and have a few problems.

The image below shows the set-up and all of the relative heights of the joints are to scale.

Problems:

1 - The water level sits just below the sink plug hole as indicated in blue in the diagram.

2 - Due to this there is a very small and slow leak (as indicated) which I attribute to the fact that water is constantly in the pipes. It does not leak when draining the sink - only when left standing (if you know what I mean)

3 - Also due to this when the washer or dishwasher are emptying the sink fills with the waste water before draining.

Now I know the principals of water levels, and that as the sink plug is at the same height as the external waste pipe, water will naturally want to sit in the pipes at the levels they currently are.
However I had none of these problems with my old sink. If it helps I now have a single bowl and the old one was a 1.5. The pipework in the old set-up looked like spaghetti and I thought I'd keep this one simple.
Will extra bends help get the water level down? I have not adjusted the height of the external waste pipe and have not had this problem before?

I'm new to this - the pic looks small but zooms if you click it

Untitled

• cartman44
• 15 Jun 2008
• 1

Please help!!

Thanks Mark

 

[gremlin16]

your external pipe is to high

 

[cartman44]

I assumed that as the main problem, however I haven't adjusted the height and have never had the problem before? I'm sure any amount of bends wont help this but wondered if anyone had any tricks?

 

[wiggikins]

Only "trick" is to lower the waste pipe.

 

[cartman44]

Just had a thought!!

Since the external waste pipe does not feed into the soil pipe, am I right in thinking that a U bend is not necessary at all? Could I not do something like fit a T to the waste pipe and have the sink feed one side and the washers the other?

Or then again that wouldn't reduce the water level in the sink and may cause issues with backswill up the washers waste pipes?

What would be the easiest way of lowering the waste pipe? I dont have any tools large enough to cut the hole? Is it a plumber or a builder or anyway I could do it myself?

Mark

 

[blondini]

What would be the easiest way of lowering the waste pipe? I dont have any tools large enough to cut the hole? Is it a plumber or a builder or anyway I could do it myself?

Mark

I suspect your new sink has a deeper bowl than the old one? You need a trap so you still need to lower the waste pipe. The neatest way to DIY would be to hire a core drill from a tool hire shop.

 

[cartman44]

i think the new basin is a little deeper.

i'm a fairly confdent diy-er but drilling a hole through my house is where i may draw the line.

how much do you think a plumber/builder would charge for this versus the hire charge for the drill (and new underpants!!)

 

[Registered Gas Man]

I personally wouldn't do it - Drill the hole for you i mean. Wouldn't be worth getting the core drill off the van for the money I could charge.

I suggest you ask around see if you have a friend of a friend who has a drill or can do it for you.

 

[cartman44]

Thanks for your help guys! Think I'm gonna have a bash this weekend. Noone has a core drill to attempt it, so gonna improvise with somethin my mate said.
Mark out the hole, drill a series of small holes around the circumferance and chisel out the hole.
I know this is much less than ideal but as a one off think its worth savin the costs!
Mark

 

[Blasphemous]

gonna improvise with somethin my mate said.
Mark out the hole, drill a series of small holes around the circumferance and chisel out the hole.
I know this is much less than ideal but as a one off think its worth savin the costs!
Mark

Nowt wrong with that cartman. Its called 'stitch' drilling and most of us will have done it to some degree at some point I'm sure. Get yourself some sand and cement and point around the pipe once it is in place and it should look ok. Fill any BIG gaps that you may inadvertently made, with newspaper then point over that. If you try and fill too big a gap the cement will just fall out or drop under its own weight.

 

[cartman44]

Just finished this last night. Goes without saying that the drainage problem has now been rectified. But what a pain in the posterior just to lower it 4 inches!!

I tried the stitch drilling method but after it took me 75mins and 3 drill bits to drill the first hole I decided that my bricks must be re-enforced with steel, granite and adamantium! Resorted to old lumpy and a chisel and smashed half a brick out. Job done!

Mark