DIY Attic Small Half Bathroom Renovation 5. Under Sink Plumbing

It is unavoidable to not have to cut the old plumbing lines when you need to replace an entire vanity. So, after my new vanity and sink was ready, I had to set up the new water and drain lines under the sink. 

 

This is a picture of the old plumbing. Yes...we had mice bait because of the big hole for the water lines to come through. Also, the toilet shut-off valve is connected to the cold water line directly under the sink. There were not many changes to make, so my plan was to keep the plumbing lines where they were, but I just needed to replace them with pex pipe and new pvc drain pipe. 

 

For the new drain pipe, I bought a sink p-trap kit from Home Depot and it was very easy to assemble.
I used plumber's putty between under the sink and the cone-shaped rubber gasket like the picture above because that is how I saw it done on Youtube.
But then, I recently found another video which was filmed 3 years after the video I watched from the same channel and said not to use plumber's putty on the black rubber gasket. Because the plumber's putty has petroleum in it, it will cause the rubber gasket to brittle and crack over time. 

I was freaking out because I already used plubmer's putty for 2 bathroom sink drain pipes!!!!
So I went ahead and disassembled everything and removed all the plumber's putty and did it all over again. I will admit it was very hard to stop leaking without the plumber's putty, but I eventually figured it out (used teflon tape around the threads) and now they are leak-free for both of my bathrooms.

 

Anyway that was how I set up the new drain pipe.

 

This was where I cut the water lines to reconnect when I demo'd the bathroom. It's right next to the bathroom. I cut the pipes with a copper pipe cutter, capped with SharkBite end stop fittings and waited until the bathroom was ready to hookup new water lines. Those end stop fittings really work well when you have to block a copper pipe after cutting them. I used them for the kitchen plumbing replacement before and reused them for the bathroom this time. 

 

To connect the pex pipes from the copper lines I used SharkBite MAX couplings. This is the new version of original SharkBite and it works fine so far. I hear people say bad things about SharkBite but I haven't had any issues with them YET. I used them in the past for my kitchen again and haven't found any leakage(It's been 6 months). I will update if they ever cause any problems in the future.

 

And here is where the new connection is. Those pex pipes go all the way to the bathroom under the sink.
I let the access panel open like that for about 2 weeks to check for any leakage just in case and then closed it.

 

*Again, I removed the plumber's putty between the sink basin and the rubber gasket*

I caulked around the holes with Lexel sealant where the pex was coming through to prevent any little mice from exploring my bathroom again. I know it looks like too much to do, but I'm traumatized.. at least I feel relieved after.

 

When it comes to DIY projects, plumbing is not fun at all for me.. seriously. But I'm so glad that I'm done with this stuff and finally it's time for cosmetic stuff!!! 

The last episode of my attic bathroom renovation will be the hardware installation. I can't wait to show you the brass collection I picked and a briliant idea for the toilet paper!