SO, what alphabet letter trap is this?

S traps are discussed in every home inspector course I’m aware of. Looking for and identifying improper traps other drain pipe issues should be automatic for any trained inspector.

Agreed however somebody who is just learning may not be fully trained. Lashing out at the members for such a trivial question speaks volumes about ones character.

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Agree, but there are several different styles or configurations of S-traps and this one is not the usual configuration that i would normally see. This post was for any and all to maybe learn what they were looking at.

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@mwilles would you consider this an S trap ?



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I am going to bet a $1.00 he says it is not and s-trap…we’ll see :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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In my union plumbing class this would be an S-trap all day long. Maybe the veteran instructors didn’t know what they were teaching. There’s no such thing as a P-trap conversion. Show me one code in any code book that references a P-trap conversion. I would call it an S-trap.

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Damn, I lost my dollar!

In my defense, I thought the tail piece was long enough :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Now we just need to see any reference in a code book stating such. There is a crown vent reference but it is for a vented P-trap. This trap is not vented. Keep your $1🙂

This confuses me, could it be vented in the wall? Can it be vented in the wall? How do we know?

It doesn’t matter Brian once there’s no vent after the P configuration it is an S trap. There is no way it could be properly vented once it terminates into the bottom of the cabinet.

Even still vented S traps are not compliant in any current codes.

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That first horizontal to vertical transition 90 elbow could be removed and replaced with a sanitary tee with an AAV and this would be considered an acceptable installation. This would be considered acceptable so long as it’s not crown vented. As JJ stated above there is a code for distance from trap weir to vent.

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As Martin pointed out, the problem we are trying to avoid by use of a p trap still exists . Namely sucking the trap dry.

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Excellent Robert that is the solution !!

That I did not know. But, I am still trying to follow along.

This is how my home is set up. Sorry for the crude drawing. This could not be happening in the OP’s photo?
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That’s a perfect installation Brian.

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So the difference is down here?

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Yes Brian the key take away is once the P-trap enters the drain system it will do so with a predetermined arm length. That arm length has certain constraints such as length before it meets a vent.

If that P-trap has a change in direction from horizontal to a vertical downward transition it no longer is properly vented. I hope that makes sense.

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Bingo, my light bulb just went off. Thanks for your patience.

Though different, this was some fun I found today.

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Awesome glad the bulb clicked on, your a very intelligent inspector. I haven’t come across an installation under a sink this bad ever!

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