How to fix a sink drain without removing the P-trap
Fixing a sink without removing the P-trap is difficult because old plastic fittings frequently snap or strip during disassembly, leaving broken pieces behind. This forces you to work around stuck or damaged connections instead of starting fresh, which prevents a clean, leak-free repair.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
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How to fix a sink drain without removing the P-trap
- 1Using two 1.5 inch slip 45s and 1.5 inch tubing to offsetDid this help you?
- 2Waiting until it backs up and calling a plumberDid this help you?
- 3Moving components around to fit themDid this help you?
- 4Unscrewing the old nuts and swapping in an identically sized trap assembly if a perfect match can be found.Did this help you?
- 5Sawing off the end of the trap and using a Fernco coupling to attach a new trap adapter and union P-trap.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Not sure now to remedy this, some pieces broke in the removal and needed to be replaced. What should I do?”source ↗
“A big chunk broke off from the bottom and obviously the one vertical piece sheared off.”source ↗
“The other concerning part is that where it feeds toward the wall right after the ptrap is cracked as well.”source ↗
“The thing I would be worried about is potentially causing the same failure with the part heading into the wall.”source ↗
“Ive had traps that have different sizes of unions that are not universal. It depends who makes it.”source ↗
“How do I fix this without removing the old p-trap?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 13Does every sink need a P-trap?
- 7What to do with old water pipes after removing a fixture?
- 2Converting a bathtub to a shower with a 1 1/4 inch drain
- 5How to vent a relocated plumbing sink or drain
- 3How to loosen bathroom water lines in extremely tight spaces
- 4How to get a stuck broken plumbing drain piece out