In Massachusetts, the drain of my bathroom sink has a PVC pipe sticking out of the wall with what looks to be a chrome-to-PVC adaptor (glued?) over top. A second chrome piece screws to the first chrome piece. These two chrome pieces form a trap for the sink drain.

[imgur.com]

My problem is that the threads on the chrome adaptor piece broke off. I stuck it back on with plumber's putty, but obviously that's only a short-term solution.

I want to replace the chrome drain pipe, but how do I remove the old chrome-to-PVC adaptor? If I cut off the PVC pipe, it doesn't look like there's enough PVC left to attach a new piece. Also, is there a better way to make this transition other than to glue on a chrome-to-PVC adaptor? I don't want to have to do this again when the next chrome piece corrodes.

that is the only type chrome trap allowed in mass.
to replace it with the same type or one that is not mass approved you will have to pull out the pedestal leg so you can remove the cut off PVC stub from the fitting behind the wall. you'll need to buy a ram-bit and drill out the stub so you can glue in another pipe and the trap of your choice.
ram-bit...

I am not sure what you have there because the slip nuts are upside down from a conventional trap. but from the little bit showing, you may have two, or three, "flush elbows" connected together to make the trap, and if so, then that would blow Packy's mind.

This is a photo of the chrome J-bend piece that attaches to the broken PVC-to-chrome adaptor elbow.
[imgur.com]
The J-bend and elbow pieces together form a trap for the bathroom sink. The J-bend has a slip nut for attaching to the sink. Based on what hj is saying - is this an unusual way to put a chrome trap together, and if so, what is the normal way?

For awhile I kept trying to screw the nut of the J-bend back (seen on the left side of this photo) onto the adaptor elbow and it wouldn't screw on. Then I realized that the threads of the elbow are actually broken off and stuck in the nut of the J-bend so of course they can't screw back together.

Packy - you say to use a ram bit. A ram bit must be guided by an outside pipe is used to remove a piece that's on the inside of the pipe, correct? But isn't my chrome-to-PVC adapter elbow (the piece I want to remove) glued onto the outside of the PVC stub that's sticking out of the wall? That's what it looks like, but I admit I can't get a great view of the connection. Basically, I'm not sure I understand which piece I'm supposed to cut off (if any), and which piece I'm supposed to drill out.

Also, how deep do we go in with the ram bit?

if the adapter is glued ONTO a PVC stub you may notch and chisel / peel it off

or

if reachable, flush cut at the face of a PVC fitting and use the ram bit

whichever is doable


either way, the pedestal will need to 'get out of your way'

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I had a situation similar to this last year. The difference was I had a tiled bathroom. I cut open the sheetrock wall on the other side, a 16"x16" opening. In my case it was a copper pipe with a chrome pipe soldered into it. I end up removing the elbow and the chrome pipe, soldered on a new copper elbow from the back, and a brass trap adapter. From the front I could put in a chrome or tubular p-trap and not having to remove the pedestal leg. Not that it was a big deal to remove a pedestal leg, but I know I had more options if I opened the back wall and could access the elbow and the short piece of pipe.

the trap you have has a threaded outlet. from the factory it comes with a PVC male adapter screwed into it. that adapter is glued onto a PVC stubout. you will need to cut the stubout close to the fitting it is glued into and use a ram bit to remove the rest. you keep turning the ram bit in a drill until all the pipe is remover from the fitting behind the wall. that will be 3/4 inch deep into the fitting outer edge.
once the fitting has been reemed clean, you glue in a new piece of pvc that is a few inches longer than needed.
from there you get a mass approved trap that will include an escutcheon and a covering tube.
welcome to massachusetts most restrictive plumbing code...