Drain keeps falling off (Plumbing help?)

Our landlord has been here 3 times, and has "fixed" it every time. And it really isn't.
Basically, the drain will just randomly come unattached. Mostly under one sink, but occasionally the other one (and once, both at the same time- the whole thing fell off...).

Here's a picture of it after it fell off today (second time this week). Sorry for the quality... not much light under the sink.


Basically, the sink is threaded. The PVC pipe is not. The nut is threaded. Is this normal? I've lost confidence that the landlord actually knows what he's doing here, and would appreciate a second opinion. Thanks!

it needs a new 1.5" nylon compression gasket.... $.25 at ace hardware. unscrew the cap and you'll see what i mean. then slip the cap on then the gasket in the right orientation and lift up to the sink.. insert as far as you can safely while tightening.

mordantly said:

it needs a new 1.5" nylon compression gasket.... $.25 at ace hardware. unscrew the cap and you'll see what i mean. then slip the cap on then the gasket in the right orientation and lift up to the sink.. insert as far as you can safely while tightening.

Click to expand...

The gasket- that's the thin circle washer-type thing, right? What is the correct orientation for that? Skinny edge up or down?

the tapered side goes up... so as the nut it tightened, it will compress the drain. every time you break down one of these connections, the gasket needs to be replaced, unless it was just replaced and you need to make a minor adjustment. yours was in there for years, as it lost all elasticity.

For luck, clean the outside of the drain pipe and dry it off before you reassemble everything. If it's greasy or slippery the gasket won't be able to hold it in place as well.

Dave

yeah, then use a little 5200 as a lubricant!

(yes, this is a joke! - unless you are renting!)

The picture is blurry but it looks like your landlord has used the wrong piece to hook up the drain. There should be a flange on the top of the pvc section that fits up against drain. This is called a "tail piece." The plastic nut that is now on the metal drain slides up the tail piece and the flange is then between the nut and the drain so it is held securely.

Do a Google image search for "sink tail piece" to see what they look like. Sorry, I have no idea how to post a picture or I would have done so. Good luck.

Like this?
http://www.watts.com/prod_images/hi-res/705666.jpg

It definitely is completely straight at the top, doesn't have a flange.

Plumber here. Here's a clear photo of what you need:



The pipe is called a flanged tailpiece. Don't forget the tailpiece washer.

Yes. That makes a lot more sense. Now to convince my landlord...

Spend the $10 or less for new parts. Do it yourself. Give receipt to landlord.

If he reimburses you - fine. If not, it's $10. Sounds like you've already experienced more than $10 worth of aggravation.

Marsdude said:

The picture is blurry but it looks like your landlord has used the wrong piece to hook up the drain. There should be a flange on the top of the pvc section that fits up against drain. This is called a "tail piece." The plastic nut that is now on the metal drain slides up the tail piece and the flange is then between the nut and the drain so it is held securely.

Do a Google image search for "sink tail piece" to see what they look like. Sorry, I have no idea how to post a picture or I would have done so. Good luck.

Click to expand...

This is correct, this should be a tail pipe.

I just had the same situation with my kitchen sink. I was underneath replacing one of the plastic collars that screw up over the water supply lines to keep the faucet in place - how it broke, I have no idea. I pushed against one of the drain lines, and the thing simply came apart - same issue - it was a plain piece of PVC, no collar on it. Damn cheapo contractor.....

Great photo BeerRunner. That will do the trick.

This is not an expensive repair. If you landlord won't do it tell him you'll do it but he will owe you a six pack.

Just an update-
The landlord was very incredulous that there wasn't a flange on the pipe. Came by, and figured out it's been upside down this entire time. The pipe is holding, and I think we got it fixed. Thanks all!

jamesnsw said:

Just an update-
The landlord was very incredulous that there wasn't a flange on the pipe. Came by, and figured out it's been upside down this entire time. The pipe is holding, and I think we got it fixed. Thanks all!

Click to expand...

LOL. I did a little work for a friend of the family a while back. Her husband had done some plumbing work while home on leave from Iraq and I went back and fixed what he did. One thing was a leaking garbage disposal. It also has a flanged tailpiece coming out of it. They are sold as "cut to fit". He had cut it, then made a second cut...off the wrong end. He cut the flange off so it no longer had a mating surface for the gasket

Ok. So it wasn't fixed. The landlord flipped the pipe right side up so the flange was at the top. It held for awhile, but now it fell off on bottom of the same pipe, the side that doesn't have a flange. So basically the joint that keeps failing just moved.

Any ideas what is going on? I'm really tired of having a leaky sink and not being able to use one of our mixing bowls...

Does it have the tapered washer under the nut? It's actually called a ferrule. As the nut is tightened, it jams the ferrule tight around the pipe.

Bobby_M said:

Does it have the tapered washer under the nut? It's actually called a ferrule. As the nut is tightened, it jams the ferrule tight around the pipe.

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+1 on the ferrule. That is what will hold the pipes tight together. They can be a large rubber washer also.

Ok... there's a little plastic washer inside. It was just sitting inside the lower pipe, not connected to the upper pipe. I put it around the upper pipe, and then screwed on the bolt. It's seeming to work...

Now it's leaking where the sink and the pipes meet. The landlord's coming out tomorrow, so we'll see what he can do.

Thanks for your help, guys!

Ain't plumbing grand?

How many trips have you had to make so far? I can never get anything done correctly until about the 5th trip to the hardware.

I think this was the Landlord's 5th trip. He took all the pipes out and to Home Depot to see if they could help. They went through joint by joint, and think each one should be fine now. He also put some pipe hanger underneath perpendicularly, so to quote the landlord, "If this still leaks, we'll blame evil spirits and hold a seance".

Before he fixed it though, he asked if it keeps breaking because of something with brewing (uh... no...) and told me that if I wanted a house that was in better shape I should move to a newer part of town when my lease is up. (Ok, I think I will, but that doesn't fix the leaky sink).

Here's hoping it's done now.

Your landlord is clueless. If he considers his time to be worth anything at all, he would have come out ahead calling a plumber vs making 5 trips himself.

BeerRunner said:

Your landlord is clueless. If he considers his time to be worth anything at all, he would have come out ahead calling a plumber vs making 5 trips himself.

Click to expand...

Totally agree. I would have come out ahead if I had paid for the plumber 8 months ago, most likely.