Hi, and thanks in advance for your help. I'm an american living in China, and I just recently had my new apartment remodeled, including the bathroom.

Many of the buildings in China (including my old apartment building) do not have p traps because the building contractors saved money by not installing them. I asked my building management company if my new building had p-traps and they answered resoundingly "what's a p-trap?" which I took to mean that the building did not have any.

So my contractor installed an s-trap in my walk-in shower and now it drains very slowly. After trying to clear any blockage (there was none) I've determined that I've double trapped my shower drain. The new trap is cemented in, with 2' x2' natural slate tiles over it, and then the walls tiled covering the edges of the slate tiles. So removing the s-trap is a last resort option.

I've tried putting a small 1/4'' air tube into the airspace behind the first trap, but that has had limited success. If I blow into it for 10 seconds the drain starts to flow naturally, and I can hear air rushing out(? ) of the air tube, but then it starts to gurgle as water enters the air pipe, and then the drains stops flowing naturally. If I blow into it again for 10 seconds it starts to flow again. I know there's no blockage in the pipe because I can get it to flow naturally for about 15 seconds.

While I'm pretty positive that the problem is that it's double traped, I've been unable to verify that the building has p-traps. Is it possible that double-trapping is NOT the problem?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix a double trap without ripping apart the whole thing?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Cheers,

Russ

"A little knowledge proves again to be a very dangerous thing."

Hey Russ, Your contractor should have been able to tell if the original drain was trapped and he is responsible for the fix unless you forced him to install a trap. A double trap will slow things down and is likely your problem but we don't know it's a double just yet. That contractor plumber should not have left the job if it wasn't working. Have you called him?

So my contractor installed an s-trap in my walk-in shower and now it drains very slowly. After trying to clear any blockage (there was none) I've determined that I've double trapped my shower drain. The new trap is cemented in, with 2' x2' natural slate tiles over it, and then the walls tiled covering the edges of the slate tiles. So removing the s-trap is a last resort option.
I don't think it ever should have been installed in the first place. If you have double trapped your shower you have air locked the drain. Why didn't someone check to see if your fixtures were trapped before you went to that expense on installing a "S" trap, (which are illegal over here.) It's so simple. Take the strainers off the drain and run a stick down the bottpm. If it comes back with a wet area two or three inches then you're trapped.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix a double trap without ripping apart the whole thing
Russ, Ya don't "fix" a double trap situation. Ya just don't put one in the first place! Besides if there were no traps in China all the buildings would smell like crap from all the sewer gas that would be entering the building. Get yourself a plumber that understands drainage and venting, rip out that "S" trap and check to see if your place has traps and vents. Please let me know how you make out. Good luck, Tom

Hi guys,

I just wanted to give you a quick update. After much debate, we finally convinced the plumbing contractor that leaving it as it was was not an option. It really took quite a lot of convincing to git him to back down off the "so what if there's a big puddle" line of logic.

Anyway, he ripped everything he had installed out, and put it back in without a p drain, and now it drains well, and no odor is coming out.

Problem fixed! Thanks you two for your help!

Russ

Glad you got fixed up Russ. If we can ever be of service we're as close as a click. Good luck over there! Tom

Contractors are alike world wide. They hate to redo their own work but sometimes it's the only answer. Removing the trap should have been a very simple 30 minute job. If he actually "he ripped everything he had installed out" he is in the bottom half of his class.