Coytee Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Setup: Bathroom lavatory. It is a 'vessel' sitting on top of a cabinet turned into a vanity. I had to drill a hole in the top to get the tailpiece through. Plumber did the plumbing and stubbed it out of the floor plate (he did not take it to any vent) Drywall went up, hooked sink....and it doesn't drain. Cut some drywall out to look in there, realized no vent and this might be the issue. Bought and put together an in-line vent that goes just after the P-trap. Had to finiggle a part here & there but it's now in. Without having a picture in hand, (can take one if needed) The P-trap is connected to the tailpiece. Instead of the trap going straight to the wall, it curves forward (adding the Vent added some length and it would not fit in the traditional space) So, the trap curves towards you instead of away from you (towards you at an angle) Then it's piped to the horizontal that holds the vent, goes to a 45-degree and then into the wall. What I find interesting is both before this vent was installed and still AFTER the vent is installed.... when you run the faucet, the sink (which has NO stopper) will start to fill up. There is a "drain cover" in the sink and it has a bunch of holes in it....like the top of a salt shaker. So as the sink SLOWLY drains, if you take your finger and rub it on the holes, you can hear it gurgle and the water GOES. If you look at it while it's stopped....you can see what appears to be an air-bubble trapped under the holes, as though a bubble of air is trapped there and can't get out the holes....therefore, the water can't get down. I'm beginning to wonder if we simply swapped out the entire tailpiece to get rid of this "salt shaker" drain cover, it will vastly help. Any thoughts on that? I actually tried to get a picture of the air bubble trapped inside but you have clear water.....clear air.... and it was frankly, near impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/48084/bar-sink-drain-wont-drain-water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete H Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 A picture is needed in this situation. If you have a drain, a trap and proper pitch from the end of the trap into the continuation of the drain along with air, you should drain. Need to look at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Is the trap level? JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Setup: Bathroom lavatory. It is a 'vessel' sitting on top of a cabinet turned into a vanity. I had to drill a hole in the top to get the tailpiece through. Plumber did the plumbing and stubbed it out of the floor plate (he did not take it to any vent) Drywall went up, hooked sink....and it doesn't drain. Cut some drywall out to look in there, realized no vent and this might be the issue. Bought and put together an in-line vent that goes just after the P-trap. Had to finiggle a part here & there but it's now in. Without having a picture in hand, (can take one if needed) The P-trap is connected to the tailpiece. Instead of the trap going straight to the wall, it curves forward (adding the Vent added some length and it would not fit in the traditional space) So, the trap curves towards you instead of away from you (towards you at an angle) Then it's piped to the horizontal that holds the vent, goes to a 45-degree and then into the wall. What I find interesting is both before this vent was installed and still AFTER the vent is installed.... when you run the faucet, the sink (which has NO stopper) will start to fill up. There is a "drain cover" in the sink and it has a bunch of holes in it....like the top of a salt shaker. So as the sink SLOWLY drains, if you take your finger and rub it on the holes, you can hear it gurgle and the water GOES. If you look at it while it's stopped....you can see what appears to be an air-bubble trapped under the holes, as though a bubble of air is trapped there and can't get out the holes....therefore, the water can't get down. I'm beginning to wonder if we simply swapped out the entire tailpiece to get rid of this "salt shaker" drain cover, it will vastly help. Any thoughts on that? I actually tried to get a picture of the air bubble trapped inside but you have clear water.....clear air.... and it was frankly, near impossible. You may want to put some food coloring in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Do we know for sure Plumber did not vent?? "Plumber did the plumbing and stubbed it out of the floor plate (he did not take it to any vent)" Why would he have done that? Have you asked him about this trouble? Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 ______ Also, even without a vent, a drain will still jjust as quickly drain.----------------- ONLY difference is the trap will be sucked dry. Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 So, we dont know anything about your trap, but we do know something is plugging your drain.. Someone correct me if I missed something here. Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 ______ Also, even without a vent, a drain will still jjust as quickly drain.----------------- ONLY difference is the trap will be sucked dry. Lars Only if a siphon starts. Richard, take a picture with your phone and send it to me. You should have my number. PM me if you can't find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike M Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 It sounds like your plumbing is clogged somewhere inside the wall. Are you sure there's no vent ? If the plumbing ties into any other plumbing like a toilet or shower it might be vented there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 You need a proper vent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 The sink is noT draining only because the drain is somehow plugged. If drain is open, absence of a formal trap does not affect draining, because the drain itself allows admittance of air behind the water. Without a vent, trap may, or may not go dry. Main purpose of trap is to allow siphon break, so water stays in trap keeping sewer gas out of house. Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Dammit, I'm just venting here Lars 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Reread the 1st post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 I'll try to get a picture tomorrow. Tidbits: This is a new installation. He Tee'd off from the existing bathroom and as I understand, went into the 4" pipe (but I'm not 100% sure on that) Original bathroom is working fine. I know for fact that nothing was vented to outdoors. He installed a toilet and cut the subfloor to bring the pipe to the other side of room for the lavatory. I might add that prior to adding the vent, the sink drained just as slow (veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slow) The single thing that really intrigues me is the gurgling you will get if you take your finger and rub it over the sink drain (not sure what the cap is called since we don't have a pop-up) I'll call it a pop up even though it's fixed. So if you rub your finger over the pop up, you will hear gurgle, bubbles will mix and BOOM, the water goes down pretty quick. Right now, my eyes are looking at the (non) pop-up. We've never had a perforated item like this and given how fast it drains when you rub your finger over it.... really catches my eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Carl, regarding phone number.... I don't do the text thing very well. I can send an email, but not sure how I'd send an email to a phone number (?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Your enemy seems to be surface tension, which is exacerbated by hard water. Larger holes and/or a new tailpiece should help tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 The single thing that really intrigues me is the gurgling you will get if you take your finger and rub it over the sink drain Did you read the link in post 2? PM sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 I did re read OP. I noticed - "Bought and put together an in-line vent that goes just after the P-trap" The vent goes "BEFORE" , not "Just after" the trap. AFTER, serves no purpose. It STILL goes back to what I said. BUT - This is still confusing - "So if you rub your finger over the pop up, you will hear gurgle, bubbles will mix and BOOM, the water goes down pretty quick." So then that means the drain is free flowing. I'm stuck now, but I still do know it has nothing to do with a "missing" vent. That I do know. I'm thinking ?? Maybe?? the drain does not have sufficient slope ?? Maybe?? Collectively, WE will figure it out. But I DO know what I'm saying. Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 The inline vent (air admittance valve) goes after the trap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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