What is a Drain Trap?
Those large curved pipes underneath your sinks are known as traps. The whole idea behind these curved deigned pipes is to hold water in them and prevent sewer gases from leaking into the home and leaving a bad odor. You can find drain traps in all drains, they trap debris and avoid clogging of your plumbing. If you haven’t used a particular pipe for a while but when you enter that room again you get a bad odor, try letting water run for a few minutes to refill the trap and the odor should subside.
Toilets also have drain traps – this is what keeps water in the bowl.
There are several different styles of traps, a P-trap for example gets its name based on its shape which is a combination of two 90 degree joints and a horizontal overflow pipe. There’s a component known as the water seal which basically keeps water from flowing back into the sink
Why Use a Drain Trap?
Aside from smelling horrible sewer gases can also be explosive or poisonous in some cases. Traps form barriers that prevent such gases from entering the home.
Installing Drain Traps
These type of installations can be done by yourself as a DIY project, just be sure to join pipes correctly and tightly. To be sure you install the right type of trap you can check the local plumbing code or Canada plumbing. Remember these rules also:
- Only as much as 3 utilities can be installed for every one drain trap.
- Installing drain traps to plumbing lines that are seldom used, keep the seal in place by applying a trap primer.
Do you find that you have a smell in your home that may need the help of an Ottawa plumber to have a look and fix your problem with your drain trap? We offer professional plumbing services in Ottawa for all of your plumbing needs and we can definitely take a look at your drain trap to resolve any issues and get rid of any bad smells you may have noticed in your home.
For affordable plumbing services in Ottawa, give us a call and speak with an Ottawa plumber today.