Help me not be a wussypants - plumbing question

[Bigote]

Ordinarily I would call a plumber for this, but I realize this is a simple thing I should just do - probably in less time than it would take to call a plumber.

Two sinks in the bathroom, sink on left has a clog, sink on right is fine.  Clearly the blockage is in that connecting pipe:




So I'll take it off and manually clear it.  My question is - do I need to use plumbers tape or anything special when reattaching it?  Or do I just screw it back in place?

[Cid47]

It seems to me that those types of fittings do not require taping. However, I am a far cry from an expert in this field. My general rule of thumb is this: If I pull it apart and there's tape there, I will use tape when I put it back together.

[Spork]

Tape never hurts.

I generally use tape if:
a) it is metal-to-metal
b) it is dissimilar materials

I use pipe dope if it's black iron.

Metals have a tendency to seize up on each other over time.  Teflon and pipe dope mostly are a means to keep that from happening.

[Bigote]

10 minutes, done.  No tape was there so I didn't put any on.  It had plastic washers in the fitting


To think I was going to pay someone 60+ dollars for that...

[Johnny Aloha]

Great job!  The plumber might even be more than $60.  Great way to earn some money!

I love plumbing repairs - fairly simple and save big money if you do it yourself.

[James]

Excellent!  Glad it went well, clearing out a P trap is pretty straightforward and should be done whenever a sink drains slowly.  If the water backs up there is a much greater chance of a leak in the fitting under the sink, and since the water is moving slowly the blockage will just get worse over time.