Under sink plumbing clarification

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jvwatkin

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Hi,

Novice here. I recently moved into a new construction home. I noticed the plumbing in the attached picture under a bathroom sink in the 2nd story bathroom tonight.

I figure this is a normal configuration, with the white PVC pipe draining loosely into the main drain pipe. I assume the white PVC is the AC condensate drain line.

I've found some real shoddy work from the home builder in other areas of the house. I am hoping a plumbing pro can confirm that the connection of the white PVC in the image is proper and I have no cause for concern. Just felt a little goofy with the white PVC not securely tied into the drain pipe.

Thanks,
Jake
 

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That looks like a crap job.

If your drain trap clogs with hair, water will back up from that open connection.

Even just draining a full sink of water could have that open pipe running over.
 
Thanks for the response. I just tested washing my hands in the sink with a normal amount of soap. The soap suds started seeping out of the open pipe. Then I ran half a sink of soapy water, drained it, and suds and water spilled out of the open pipe quite a bit. Time to get the builder to fix it. Thanks.
 
If they changed that tailpiece extension to the type with a stub for a dishwasher drain, they should be able to connect that stub to the a/c drain with a short length of sturdy vinyl hose and hose clamps.
The pvc line would probably need more length, and a reducer fitting on the end to match the dishwasher drain stub diameter.

However, suds or drain water would still be backing up into the a/c drain, but the leaking would stop.

Also, what is happening at the trap arm by the wall?
Did they illegally glue abs pipe to pvc, or is there some transition fitting, or are the pipes nearest the wall just abs painted white?

And finally, there might be an air gap required where the a/c condensate line connects, so that might sort of explain the logic of that sloppy open connection.
 
Yeah, I don't understand a lot about this, at least in new construction. Why doesn't the A/C condensate, if that's what it is, drain into its own standpipe closer to the A/C unit? Why's it routed towards a sink in the first place?

Draining into a fitting at a 45ish degree angle is also super sloppy. Anything like that should be drained straight down into a standpipe or floor drain. A proper standpipe in that cabinet with the way that drainline is coming in doesn't seem feasible, so that's just gotta go elsewhere.

And it looks like the trap piping is glued to ABS coming out of the wall, but the pipe in the wall does have a lot of paint on it. I'd be concerned that connection isn't the best, either.

I hope your builder can get it fixed by an actual plumber, who knows what they're doing.
 
I have never seen that practice of routing the condensate into a bathroom here near Chicago, but I have seen many mentions of it here and on other forums.

Maybe it is just a regional thing, or used only in warmer states?

Around here, the condensate would be piped either into a drain that leaves the attic and runs down the siding to near the ground, or into a little condensate pump box that pumps it through a small vinyl hose, to somewhere it can drain by gravity, sometimes thirty or forty feet or more away.

I have seen the vinyl hose plumbed into a small trap, which is tapped into a vent stack.
Probably not legal, but it works.
 
The hvac guy connected his 3/4 pvc to the lav trap. Plumbers do nicer work than hvac guys when it comes to plumbing. Its at best a poor connection and eventually something bad will happen if its not corrected.
 
It looks like they scraped the paint off the pipe and then glued on the desanko.. That part is done right.
 

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