Pro Handyman Blog

Plumbing Sink Trap Leak

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When you open your vanity cabinet, do you see a small puddle of water beneath the plumbing trap? You might have a leak underneath the sink trap. Fortunately, the fix is pretty easy.

If the leak is at the trap, the leak will only occur when the water is running down the drain (assuming the trap itself isn’t cracked). The most obvious places to check are the connections leading to and from the trap.

The sink’s tailpiece (the straight vertical drain pipe) will connect to the trap via slip nuts. The tailpiece slips inside the trap. A slip washer is pushed on to the tailpiece and seals the gap between the tailpiece and the trap. The slip nut then screws onto the trap until secure. Leaks occur here for a few reasons. Since the connections are all plastic, it is easy to cross thread the connection. Unscrew the nut and carefully screw it back down onto the threads. You should feel it grab and then slowly pull the two together. Tighten these until snug but don’t over tighten the fitting. It’s pretty easy to damage them because they are plastic.

Also, check the slip washer. If the leak is small, it may be that there is a small crack in the washer which will allow water to pass and drip off of the bottom of the trap. Look closely as the crack can be small. You can simply push a new washer onto the end of the tailpiece and screw it all together. No glue required.