Unaligned Pipes for Bathroom Sink (Home Depot, drain, sinks, installation)

[nytimes703]

I am wanting to replace the bathroom vanity. We're almost there but the problem is the new sink's drain pipe not aligning with the pipe that leads into the p trap and into the wall.

I went to home depot and paid $5 for a flexible accordian pipe but even if it did work, i wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it there due to potential clogging and ripping (the material is super cheap). What are the easiest options here?

The contractor i was using wanted to charge an extra $150 to make this work through cutting the pipe sticking out of the wall.

[thecoalman]

The first elbow from the wall is glued? You'd have to cut it off, use a hacksaw. Get a new elbow, do a dry fit and cut more pipe if necessary. Once you have good fit prime and glue both the elbow and pipe and push it on. Hold it in place for about 10 seconds becsue they have a tendency to want to push back out as the glue reacts. It sets extremely fast and can be used immediately so be sure you have it on there right when you push it on. Cost you about $15 but only becsue you need to buy the glue and primer along with the elbow. Get the smallest bottles they have, they can be good for years.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by nytimes703

the new sink's drain pipe not aligning with the pipe that leads into the p trap and into the wall.

Then you have to adjust the pipe/fitting. (fwiw few ever do align 100%)

The contractor i was using wanted to charge an extra $150 to make this work
through cutting the pipe sticking out of the wall.

That's the way to do it right...
making those connections last in the sequence.

Set the trap to the tailpiece...
extend the trap arm back toward the wall.
make up the hi/lo or left/right adjustment needed at the wall
to get the trap assembly to connected to the stub out.

[nytimes703]

Not sure. I will take a wrench and try twisting it off.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by nytimes703

Not sure. I will take a wrench and try twisting it off.

A wrench on what? The first elbow coming off the wall that is pointing down is probably glued becsue I don't see any compression fittings. The only way you can get that off is to cut it off.

[thecoalman]

One other thing, if you do cut it then cut is as close to the elbow as you can. You can always take more off.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by nytimes703

Not sure. I will take a wrench and try twisting it off.

No offense, but "taking a wrench" to a GLUED PVC fitting / pipe is NOT going to end well.

The general setup for an "in vanity" drain connection is that you should DRY FIT everything and plan on rotating the trap to align to the tail piece. There are LOTS of videos about how to do this properly. There is really no reason to GLUE any part of the tailpiece or trap. The most common bathroom traps are set up with ridges so you can loosen / tighten these by hand to retrieve a dropped piece of jewelery / clear hair clogs . This is not perfect but it shows both the proper type of trap and the typical amount of offset --

The only time you would open up the wall and align the drain to be centered is in installations where the trap is exposed -- the "floating sinks" without a cabinet style vanity are most often done this way... Honestly there is no reason to do this unless you have the fancy chrome exposed trap. In such a case you would have all the pieces on hand prior to doing "rough-in" for the plumbing. Ideally the plumber you hire for this kind of work is borderline OCD -- you want somebody that measures everything half a dozen times before they make a single cut. Lots of mainstream plumbing shops HATE this kind of work as it is going to result in a very high charge based on hourly rates. Believe it or not most plumber do not like giving clients very large labor bills but if the idea is you want some "zen symmetry" style exposed wall hung sink even being 1/4" away from the centerline is going to ruin the look...