So you’ve decided to tackle the kitchen renovations in your Phoenix home yourself. You’ve found a beautiful, deep sink, and you can’t wait to get in there and pull out all that old plumbing. It should be a piece of cake to start fresh with a new sink and plumbing that fits that new deep sink, right? You’ve got the grit, determination, and a lot of patience, but do you realize the ways that installing your kitchen sink plumbing can go wrong?
What To Be Aware of in Replacing Your Kitchen Sink Plumbing
If you’ve never tried installing plumbing before, take a deep breath, and know that this will take a while. You didn’t execute a perfect parallel parking job the first time you tried it, so don’t expect to do this in half an hour with no frustration. Here are some of the problems you could experience.
1. Your New Sink Is Too Deep
If you are watching a how to install a kitchen sink plumbing tutorial, here’s where they tell you to measure the trap arm’s height. The trap arm is the horizontal pipe that comes out of the wall and attaches to the plumbing u-shaped part, called the trap arm or P-trap. The trap arm should have a 1/4 inch slope per foot for proper draining. If the height from the cabinet floor to the center of the trap arm is more than 16 inches, you will not be able to install a deeper sink than you had initially, as it will not have enough room to accommodate the slope. You’d better hope that sink wasn’t a final sale item, or you’ll have to turn it into an unusual planter after you buy another sink that’s the same dimensions as the other one.
2. The Sink Cutout Is Too Wide
This problem is not easy to fix without exchanging the sink for another that fits the hole’s dimensions. Patching the gap will be prominent and not easy to fix if you have stone countertops.
3. The Drop-In Sink Won’t Sit Evenly
Aside from the aesthetics, your sink must be level to ensure proper drainage. You’ve measured and found the ideal replacement for your old, ugly or damaged sink. You drop it in the hole and stand back to be…disappointed. It looks crooked and wobbles when you touch it. This could be due to several possibilities:
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- The sink is warped.
- The countertop is warped.
- The sink is not resting fully on the countertop but is instead perched on a clip for holding it down.
- The sink is catching on a section of the countertop, which means the hole needs to be revised.
- A buildup of caulk left over from the old sink prevents your new one from making flush contact with the countertop.
4. There Is Water Under the Cabinet
It is finally time for the moment of truth; leak checking. Run water to fill up the sink basin, then let it drain to make sure no leaks develop. If you see water under the cabinet, it could be from several sources:
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- Loose slip nuts
- Unsealed pipe joints
- Water leaking from under the sink ledge where it isn’t sealed correctly to the countertop
- Lack of appropriate slope to allow drainage
While it is possible to install your own plumbing, there are many ways it can go wrong. Why not make it easy on yourself? The experienced team at Day and Night Plumbing can get your new plumbing fixed in no time. Contact us today in Phoenix.
Featured Image: Shutterstock / Alpa Prod