The cost of almost everything has been increasing significantly recently. This has made people want to cut costs more than ever. One way to do this is to do more home maintenance and repairs yourself. One simple repair for a very common problem is clearing a P-trap. A dirty P-trap is a very common cause of slow drains. So, let’s see how you can clear a P-trap.
What Is a P-Trap?
You’ll find the P-trap below your bathroom or kitchen sink. It actually looks a lot like the letter U. It is a curved pipe that goes into the wall.
How Does a P-trap Work?
The P-trap is intended to keep sewer line gases out of your house. It accomplishes this by letting a bit of water accumulate at the bottom of the trap, thus preventing the harmful gases from going through the water. If you have sinks that you use infrequently, it is best to allow water to run into the drain every couple of weeks so as to prevent the P-trap from becoming dried out.
Prevents Items From Entering the Sewer
It’s quite easy for items to end up in the P-trap. Grease, soap residue, and food commonly end up in the P-trap, but other items do as well. Things such as earrings and other jewelry are pretty commonly found in P-traps as well. If an item goes down the drain but isn’t light enough to be washed out to the sewer by the water, it ends up in the P-trap.
Cleaning Your P-trap
Cleaning a P-trap is a good way to get started with do-it-yourself plumbing while learning a bit more about plumbing in general. You’ll need a bucket, a pipe wrench, and some towels for this project. Now, we’ll explain what to do:
- Turn off the water. You can either turn off the water to the sink you are working on or the whole house. You’ll want to do this to avoid flooding your bathroom or kitchen while you are removing and cleaning the P-trap.
- Place a bucket under the P-trap. The bucket will catch any water or other items. Loosen the nuts at both ends of the trap. If you have metal pipes, a pipe wrench will be required to loosen the fittings. However, if you have PVC drainpipes, you should be able to loosen the fittings by hand. Once you have removed the nuts, the water will drain, and you can remove the U-shaped section of the pipe.
- Clean the P-trap. After you’ve removed the P-trap, you can clean it out in another sink or outside. You don’t want to use the same sink with the pipe you just removed. Just make sure to remove any hair or other items from the trap. You may even find some lost items.
- Re-install the P-trap. Look at the pipes located around the trap and remove any debris. Then re-install the P-trap by placing the fittings back on the end of the pipe and tightening them, but not over-tight. Otherwise, you could damage the threads on the ends of the pipe and allow water to leak.
- Check your work. Turn the water back on and run water down the drain. If you find the water is drained and there are no leaks, you have succeeded.
Final Thoughts
Clearing a P-trap is an easy beginner project and can save you some money. It might also give you the confidence to take on more projects and save even more money. So, don’t be afraid to give it a try.
Contact Us
If your drains are suffering from a clog you cannot handle, then contact J Griffin Heating & Plumbing today. Our team has more than thirty years of plumbing experience and is ready to help you with all of your heating and plumbing needs. Call us at 781-520-1212 and connect with us on Facebook
