Visited with daughter and s-i-l for Christmas. (They live 3 hours away) Their bathroom sink was draining terribly slow and eventually stopped. After checking out what they have for a drain....oh my, it definitely needs help!



Unfortunately we weren't there long enough to be able to assist in getting this replaced, but know that it needs to be done! We hope to be able to visit them again soon and help with this but we're not sure how to go about it?



As the drain pipe coming from the wall doesn't line up with the drain coming down from the sink, I'm guessing that is why that flex trap was installed? (This was the way the house was when they purchased it)

We have told them they will probably have to remove that to clean out the clog as I think they have already tried a drain cleaner and that didn't seem to help. I'm worried that if they try removing it they won't be able to get it back on until we can come out to help them do the actual repair.

Sorry the pictures aren't the best. Hard to get the camera to show the difference in pipe location. They can't really afford a plumber, but if they can't get it cleaned out before we can return to help them, I'm afraid they may have to!

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

Plastic sink drain parts are very easy to work with and don't need any tools. Tell them to not put any more drain cleaning chemicals down the drain and remove the trap and clean it out.

I agree that the flex drain pipes are not the best as they seem to clog more easily than smooth pipe. If you want to get rid of it there are a couple easy options:

One option is to get a straight section or longer piece that extends from the wall which will allow the trap to rotate 90 degrees and hopefully get over far enough to line up with the sink drain where you'll need a straight section down from the sink.

Another option is to use two curved trap sections. One looping up and the other looping down. This double joint give you a lot more adjustment than just one trap section.