Sink Ubend

[cassa333]

On average, and considering normal usage, how long should a bathroom sink ubend last before the seal rots away or some other catastrophic degradation occurs?

Thanks

[tamborine]

Depends how you use it. Mine is 45y at home & 15y at work. I never use acidic cleansers, preferring to dismantle & rinse.

[EDDIE51]

Mine has been good for the last 41 years.

[The Builder]

Should last indefinitely. Cassa............... unless, as Tambo says, strong corrosive cleaners are used to remove blockages. It should never be necessary. Bung-ups can be shifted by unscrewing the trap, or using any cleaning eyes that are fitted.

[paddywak]

As above.I honestly can't remember ever having to change one.

[cassa333]

Thanks.

That was what I thought.

Any thoughts on why a bathroom sink ubend seal would suddenly Spring such a leak that water soaked the bathroom floor and went through the ceiling to the rooms below?

[alavahalf]

If it suddenly leaked and water has traveled down through the ceiling, that would suggest a blockage that has backed the water up. It may well have been dripping for some time and you hadn't spotted it. From experience there is often a large plug of gunge made of hair, toenails and whiskers partially blocking the waste pipe.
My suggestion would be to remove the u-bend completely and clean it (not in the sink you have just taken it from). Inspect the seals, if they are okay then reassemble and lubricate the seals and refit. If not then replace them.

[cassa333]

Thanks

So a blockage would be the likely cause? But if there is a blockage how would the water gush out enough to suddenly soak everything?

I can understand a slow leak going unnoticed but not enough to gush down the downstairs walls.

I suspect it is a tap left on and has overflowed and the ubend pipe is an excuse!!

[alavahalf]

Where a lot of water has escaped I would normally check under the bath fro problems.

The strangest one I have been out to was where water ran down the walls when someone was having a shower. I re- siliconed the shower tray and it leaked again. When I returned the silicone had broken away...?
I told the lady that there is no way that the silicone would break away without pressure.

She sheepishly replied that when her and her boyfriend got in the shower together the tray often looked like it was about to break ... neither of them were strangers to the biscuit tin !

[cassa333]

Well it turns out the catastrophic ubend failure was in fact her son leaving the tap running with the plug in.

[alavahalf]

All this technical advice and in the end it's human error ... concussive taps will stop that ever happening again.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/h-c-self-closing-non-concussive-bathroom-basin-taps-pair/73178