What are some good options for securing p-trap for sink

Question

This p-trap for my bathroom sink is inside a cabinet that we use to store various cleaning supplies and bathroom sundries. The problem with this particular sink is that the p-trap assembly tends to get bumped when taking things in/out of the cabinet and shifts slightly enough to make it leak, sometimes even pulling it away from the tailpiece. Unfortunately this tends to go unnoticed until water is dripping out the front of the cabinet.

I've re-aligned and tightened it on numerous occasions but never enough that eventually it doesn't work its way back off. It seems like the little plastic collars between the threaded parts just don't hold well enough that a good bump won't pull them lose. I've even tried replacing them with no luck.

Any suggestions for making this assembly more bullet-proof? Should I glue the plastic collars to the pipe maybe? Looking for ideas.

Answer 1

Your 1st problem is that the 'U' shaped piece is fitted backwards.

This leads to the 2nd problem in that the way you have it only allows for very little of the white extension piece on the left (between the gray extension and the 'U') to actually slide into the 'U' - making it very susceptible to being bumped out of position.

Once you take the 'U' off and flip it around you'll find that both of your extensions will slide much further into each other as well as into the correct side of the 'U' - making them much more resistant to being bumped and knocked.

The end result should look something like this, and you might even be able to remove the extra white extension entirely if the gray one is long enough:

Just make sure that each extension slides a good inch or so into the slip-joint of the next piece to ensure that it's secure.

You'll probably also find that if you loosen the horizontal piece that goes into the wall you'll be able to slide it in or out a little and correct (or at least improve) the misalignment of the rest of the pipework.

Answer 2

Re-pipe and take out the misalignment

The grey goes into the white at a clear angle. That's your problem.

Honestly, I have had contraptions under sinks that I had to get a plumber to do for me, my skills doing this once every 5 years don't match those of people who do it daily.

Secondly, there are leak detectors you can place under a sink that will sound an alarm if they sit in water.

Answer 3

Well, other answers have directed you to futz with the pipes themselves. Assuming that doesn't solve your problem, the solution is to build a chase inside the cabinet—basically, a U-shaped plywood box. You can use an angle bracket or two to screw it to the cabinet back wall or floor.