Tailpipe of sink not aligning with P trap

Question

The tailpipe of the sink is about 1" behind the P-trap. It's also too long. If I try to jury-rig it and force the connection, it throws everything off including the vanity top.

I can probably cut the tail pipe, but hope it's not necessary to cut the P-trap/drain because it's all pretty permanent. I probably could cut above the P-trap if I really had to.

I've watched numerous YouTube videos and tried to make this work, but I cannot. The male thread piece on top of the P-trap seems off, too, because every nut/connector is loose. I bought a Snappy Trap assembly, thinking the smooth-sided flex pipe was what I needed but I can't make that work either.

Answer 1

It looks like you have 1.5" pipe there, and, for some odd reason, someone decided to convert it to 1.25" right off the sink drainpipe (and with glued PVC to boot). This makes for some frustrating work, especially, if that drain ever gets clogged (good luck getting into that P-trap).

I would make the same cut Michael Karas made on the pipe coming out of the wall, but I would downsize to 1.25 at that point and install a standard 1.25" hand-screw trap. You can glue this convertor on and then buy a PVC P-trap kit (you will likely need an extension pipe cut to size to make the trap reach the existing drain).

The new tail piece screws into the adapter and can be moved back and forth as needed to ensure you line up with the new drain. And all your connections are hand fittings now, so drain maintenance is far easier.

Answer 2

One method to solve the problem is to cut the pipe near the wall right at the point indicated by the black arrows.

You then buy some new PVC fittings and PVC cement and make up a new trap assembly like the one you have now. The pipe that was cut off at the wall will now allow the new assembly to be about 1" closer to the back wall of the cabinet. When working with the new fittings do dry fit all the pieces to make sure you get the alignment you need before committing to cementing them together.

The too long tail piece can be accommodated either by sawing off the lower end of the blue piece or by making the vertical riser of the new trap assembly a bit shorter.

Answer 3

An easy fix I've used for this is simply buy a second p trap and turn it sideways. Connect it to your drain pipe coming out of the wall. Then, using a short piece of PVC, connect it to your existing trap, oriented as usual. You now have several planes of movement that you can adjust to where you need it. I understand the trap is glued but you may want to consider replacing it with one (or 2) new ones anyway for future access. I can attach a picture of this later if further explanation is needed.