Old sink drain - how to update

[cotdondo]

I have an old cabin. This is the kitchen sink drain. It's been problematic since the day I moved in. I want to replace it with a modern P trap and vent.

For now, I can't even figure out how to dismantle this pipe.

I have no way to put in a standard vent pipe; I can run a pipe outside and then go up on the outside wall (this seems to be pretty common in these old cabins.)

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[MicEd69]

If all your drain piping is galvanized, and if there is no union below where the picture ends, then the drain basket needs to be removed if you want to unscrew the piping. And that is assuming you have enough room to swing the iron trap around to unscrew it from the drainpipe.

A big issue is that your drain piping is galvanized. The condition of the piping is hard to determine from the outside.

I'm assuming as you say this is a cabin, there is no city or authority that will be inspecting this installation, especially as the existing is an S-trap that is against most codes today.

The easiest way to remove this mess would be to cut the drainpipe below the iron trap. You can then determine if the pipe is worth salvaging. Even if it is, the best way to connect it to PVC is to use a shielded Fernco which clams to the outside of the pipe. And that will lessen this "improvement" to the sink drain. But if you don't or can't replace more of your drain piping, at least this fix will allow the drain to work much better.



The vent should be vertical or no more than a 45-degree angle off vertical all the way to an AAV, or until it reaches 6" above the top of the sink.

 

[cotdondo]

That's pretty much what I ended up doing. I did my best but space and time were limited; I know the AAV isn't per code but it seems to work for now. I plan to demo the whole kitchen in the next few months so this is a stop gap until I can do it right.

I snaked the line about 25' while I had the trap off; it looks like it's full of mud, which means at some point in the spring I get to grab a shovel and figure out where it goes and replace it.

There's a possibility that the line isn't connected to the septic at all; it simply terminates somewhere bellow grade. Fun times ahead.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Snake the line while you’re running water through it. Might help, might not.

As you say, it might have its own drain field and that may have failed.

 

[cotdondo]

I did some timing.... The sink drains about 1 GPM. Toilet, shower, etc. work just fine with no backup. so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the kitchen drains into its own leach field, with the (new) bathroom connected to the septic system. The laundry drains into a perf pipe and not into the septic. So....

As soon as the ground thaws I'll be digging new pipe. Grrr.....

 

[Ludington]

I did some timing.... The sink drains about 1 GPM. Toilet, shower, etc. work just fine with no backup. so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the kitchen drains into its own leach field, with the (new) bathroom connected to the septic system. The laundry drains into a perf pipe and not into the septic. So....

As soon as the ground thaws I'll be digging new pipe. Grrr.....

I had a washer that had its own drain field, it eventually clogged up to much to use. I snaked it too, but I think the field got clogged up or roots got in. I rerouted it to my main drain to my septic. That works fine. But I still use that washer line drain and field to drain a condensation pump into , it works great for that purpose.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Most people use too much soap. I put about a 1/3 of what the bottle says use.

Soap will contribute to creating a biomat and the water will quit soaking into the ground,similar to a pond bottom.

 

[sawsaw]

Most people use too much soap. I put about a 1/3 of what the bottle says use.

Soap will contribute to creating a biomat and the water will quit soaking into the ground,similar to a pond bottom.

Too much detergent will also hasten the demise of front loading washers. It attacks the drum bearings, which, typically, makes it too costly to have it repaired.