# Trailer Home Traps



## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

Since Hurricane Katrina, we are bound to code to install master 4" traps on every mobile home. This goes against everything I was taught about double trapping fixtures. But code is code and I cant not do it. Anybody else have something similar to this where yall live?


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## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

Double traps? cant do it here dude!


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## 22rifle (Jun 14, 2008)

What's the reasoning behind it?


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## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

Thats what Im saying. I have been round and round with inspectors down here but they only recite code. After the Huricane hit of course everyone was running around with their heads cut off. FEMA started building tons of trailers. At the time anyone could hook up these trailers, all you had to have was a truck and a few tools. Alot of these trailers were "straight drops". Drains under lavs and showers with no traps. These hacks were installing them directly into the community sewer set up for them and not trapping anything. So in turn its now state code to install 4" master traps which is double trapping the fixtures....


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## Bollinger plumber (Apr 3, 2009)

We had a couple houses blow up here in perryville missouri so now whenever we work on a sewer that has a stack less than 3 inches (very common around here)we have to install a 4 inch trap outside the building with a clean out on the house side and a vent on the street side. talk about ugly ornaments in the yard. If I get a chance I will take a pic of one and post it. Not sure why the houses blew up but it was either methane gas or a natural gas leak.


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## leak1 (Mar 25, 2009)

i think a 4 in. running trap in a main sewer is asking for problems,oh well it will keep us sewer cleaners busy!


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## UnclogNH (Mar 28, 2009)

leak1 said:


> i think a 4 in. running trap in a main sewer is asking for problems,oh well it will keep us sewer cleaners busy!


:thumbup: yep and God bless 1.6 gallon flush toilets to go with those running traps :thumbup:


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## cajunplumberjoe (Mar 26, 2009)

Hey Plumberman-same Thing North Of You.trailer Parks W/ A Running 4'' Trap-whose Idea Was This? The Local Inspector Told Me If The Main Was 30 Feet Or Closer No Trap Needed.he Said The Trailers Werent Vented Well Enough Unless They Were Trapped-whatthe Heck? Read That Right --thats What He Said Not Me.crazy......


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

Do they look like this?


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

New York has house traps.


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

Some cities and towns in Illinois still have running traps out in the parkways. And in Elgin they are just inside the building.with a fresh air intake vent.


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

Since the traps are on trailers, I'm going to guess that the purpose isn't necessarily because they want two traps, but because they want the line trapped when there isn't a trailer on site.

And, yes, there have been house traps in some areas. I've even seen them on very old houses. I'm not sure what they're good for.


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## retired rooter (Dec 31, 2008)

We have traps under trailer homes here in alabama tone place I worked in yrs ago ,the owner would dig out the trap when a trailer was moved and we would install a cleanout just outside area where next trailer would be set up to make it easier for next cleaning,this place was called mimosa in those days it was full of trees and roots ,it was very seldom to get a stoppage in the 4 inch clay trap under the trailer ,the old owner sold it to an out of town investor who I refused to work for and it makes hair on my backstand up just to drive by the place now eddie


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## plumbob1234 (Mar 29, 2009)

I know the older homes around here(50+ yrs.) had running traps where the main bld. drain meets the building sewer ( 1 meter outside home). The logic used to be, it kept vermin, mice etc., out of the homes. That logic as long since been abandoned.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

How is it double traping? I thought the problem with double traping was due to venting. There would be vents in between the house trap and fixture traps so it's a none issue. As long as the trap has cleanouts, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Not very good from a service stand point, but it should work reasonably well. It's just going to backup more often.


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## HandsomeMike (Feb 8, 2009)

The idea of having a trap when nothing is hooked up makes good sense to me.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

jjbex said:


> New York has house traps.


Yea we got a good share of them here too! :thumbup:
Good for the drain cleaning business!
Quite a few of the towns and cities have an amendment to the state code requiring them... :laughing:
As Protech stated it has a vent so it is not double trapping.

Having the trap there doesn't do much when the trailer leaves...
Traps do dry out!

*Hey Handsome Mike how about an intro? *
Click Here and Give Us an Intro...


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## retired rooter (Dec 31, 2008)

Im not gung ho for drain cleaners who had to cut roots out of sewer outside trailer pad, try running any 11/16 or 3/4 cable with knives thru a 4 inch trap believe me its no fun even with my hollow core limp cable going thru a trap and tying to cut roots was no easy task unless line was less than 50 ft long with no or very few roots, just sludge but think of your poor cable kinked totally ruined for next job JMHO eddie


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## AlbacoreShuffle (Aug 28, 2011)

422 plumber said:


> New York has house traps.


San Francisco too.
Every property has a house trap. 
I replaced dozens of them.
Most were made of 4" clay. When they plugged up a lot of home owners would pop the covers off and take a broom stick to it.
Most off the time they would blow the bottom out of the trap. :thumbup:


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## walker426 (Oct 17, 2011)

We got house traps here in cleveland on some houses with combined sanitary storm sewer to keep stink out of downspouts


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## frisco kid (Dec 18, 2008)

AlbacoreShuffle said:


> San Francisco too.
> Every property has a house trap.
> I replaced dozens of them.
> Most were made of 4" clay. When they plugged up a lot of home owners would pop the covers off and take a broom stick to it.
> Most off the time they would blow the bottom out of the trap. :thumbup:


yup, there's drain cleaning outfits here that specialize in upselling new house traps after cuz they're almost always broken or offset ... pretty good racket!


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

First Saturday night on call I ran into one. Called the old guy asked if there was any thing I should know about the trailer park, I had heard the name from the guys and it always involved cussing. Guy said nope.

It was a real pain getting past that first 90 but I finally got my whole reel in and it only dropped a foot, but was taking water well. Ran back and forth to clear a pulp stoppage for awhile it was still holding. 

Called the guy, he told me to watch for the house traps they have there.:blink: Asked if it was taking water....

Ruined a whole cable the first weekend I ran. :laughing: Cost of cable was worth the lesson.


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