How to Install a Chrome Sink Trap for PVC Drains

How the Trap Works

• The sink trap attaches to the other pipes beneath your sink. Water rushing down the drain pipe passes through the trap before exiting to the waste pipe. The trap resembles the inverted handle of an umbrella. Because of its shape, the trap remains filled with water at all times. The trap prevents sewer gas inside the waste line from rising to the surface of the sink. Besides being malodorous, sewer gas fills the air with harmful, and potentially deadly, germs.

How the Trap Connects

• The pipes beneath your sink interlock. The end of each pipe contains either threads or a slip joint nut. One pipe slides into another. The pipes join when the slip joint nut on one pipe threads onto the end of the accompanying pipe. A washer inside the slip joint nut ensures a water-tight fit between the two pipes. Bathroom sink pipes measure 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Kitchen sink pipes measure 1-1/2 inches.

Old Trap Removal

• Installing a chrome trap onto your PVC sink pipes first requires removing the old trap. Position a bowl or small bucket beneath the trap to capture overflow. Hold the trap with one hand, and loosen both slip joint nuts. If necessary, use a set of slip joint pliers to loosen a stubborn nut. To prevent damaging the nut, wrap a cloth around the nut before using the pliers. Detach the loosened trap and dump the water inside the trap into the bowl or bucket.

Chrome Trap Installation

• With the old trap removed, discard the washers inside the current slip joint nuts. Replace these with new washers to ensure an effective seal. Position the chrome trap with the longer end beneath the PVC drain pipe. The drain pipe extends straight down from the base of the sink. Next, tighten the slip joint nut at the end of the drain pipe onto the end of the chrome trap. A second slip joint nut joins the trap to the pipe extending from the wall. Tighten this nut onto the trap.