Just realized my whole kitchen sink was draining wrong for 2 years

Bought this house in Amarillo back in 2022 and always thought the slow drain was just normal. Last week I finally had a plumber out to fix a leak under the cabinet and he showed me the trap was literally installed backwards by the previous owner. Said it had been slowly collecting gunk since day one. Cost me $45 for him to flip it around and now it drains like a dream. How hard is it to install a p-trap the right way? Has anyone else found previous owner work that was just completely botched?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica7071mo ago

Previous owner caulked my bathroom window shut. Found out when I nearly tore the wall down trying to open it during a heat wave. $45 for a backwards p-trap is a steal compared to my therapy bills.

shanef341mo ago

$45 is a great deal for that fix. Most plumbers charge a service call fee just to show up. For the garbage disposal switch thing, you can actually flip the outlet by taking the cover plate off and rotating the receptacle 180 degrees. Did it at my old house in Lubbock and it solved the same problem.

riverdavis1mo ago

Cringe seeing that because my buddy in Odessa found the previous owner wired his garbage disposal switch backwards. You had to flip it down to turn it on. @jessica707 I completely get the therapy bills comment, owning someone else's mess is just exhausting. I swear some people just go at home projects like they're trying to lose a bet. At least yours was a cheap fix, not a whole new window.