Hello,

I ran into a problematic situation at my friend's house. I need to install sort of a kitchen sink (I use the term "sort of" since technically, it's a kitchen sink; but it's actually not being installed in a kitchen and will most often not be used for standard kitchen procedures) using the drain stubout and copper stub-ups provided by the plumber when the house was built approximately 2 or 3 years ago.

Recently, they had a carpenter (or a handyman, perhaps) install a counter where the sink would go, and the guy cut out a hole in the countertop for the sink basin. However, the individual who installed the counter apparently has a brain made of processed cheese. I base this statement on the fact that for no apparent reason, he decided to saw off most of the drain stubout (it wasn't even getting in the way of the cabinet installation, as far as I can tell). This leaves us in deep doo-doo: I'm afraid the subout may be too short to be useful.

Please take a look at the attached pictures. The stubout is 1½" PVC. By sticking my finger into the pipe and feeling around, I've determined the layout as follows: the pipe comes from the left where (presumably) it is properly drained and vented by a vertical stack, although that's irrelevant right now: the main thing is that it comes in as a horizontal pipe coming from the left; it is then solvent glued to an ell (or sweep; whatever - some sort of 90 degree fitting) which redirects it to point out of the wall in the form of a stubout. The problem with this setup is that I can't just "cut away the wall to expose more pipe", because this is a fitting we're dealing with - any attempts at cutting back into the line will involve making a considerable hole in the wall, cutting out the entire ell, and replacing it - which needless to say is not very preferrable.

Attempting to salvage what's left of the stubout, I measured it, and compared it with the depth of the fitting. It seems that a 1½" PVC pipe will enter approximately 3/4" into the hub of a 1½" PVC fitting. The stubout was cut at an angle, and measures about 3/4" on the left side (which is probably good), but only about ½" on the right side (which is not so good).

Can I solvent-glue a fitting into what's left of the existing stubout, even though the right side may be a bit short - and obviously, the pipe is not cut square? Or will this cause problems? Will I have to cut open the wall to remove the ell completely and make a new stubout? Or is there an easier way to do this?

Help!
Moishe

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Although it was pretty stupid all is not lost. Get a 11/2" PVC DWV Coupling,( that's the short one ) and prime and glue it on the stubout. Since there's no pressure, to speak of, on the drain it shouldn't leak. You may now couple a piece of PVC in the coupling cut to size for the trap. Regards, Tom