Time for us to look for a better plumber

[DonJuane]

I am a highly experienced plumbing inspector and this does not come with the normal pedigreed certificates from the US that Gringos brag about. Where I gained my experiences is that most of the time I spend in the bathroom, where others are reading the sports pages I instead spend my required time there marveling at the infinite techniques used in Mexico for plumbing. Out of respect I won't call them half-assed but instead I'll simply call them "interesting".

First of all let me speak of the previously mentioned "only a friction coupling" to secure a drain. Thank God you have that type installed1 As a former rental property owner and sole plumber, electrician, AC, carpenter, etc (mantra: "hire no one, least ye pay for every job done twice"), let me say that I'd venture a guess 99% of the homes in the US are drain-plumbed with this friction seal drain pipe style. It's very effective of course until a renter tries to slam a vacuum cleaner or garbage can under the sink and keeps kicking it until the drain pipes move enough for the item to finally go in. Otherwise the use of this friction coupling has to be an extreme rarity in Mexico.

What you find instead is most of the time "one pipe of a slightly smaller to extreme smaller diameter shoved into a larger pipe and anything from plumbers putty to an expensive rock-hard drying (and shrinking no-less) sealant to simple chewing gum" to keep the thing from leaking. You are luckiest in this type of situation when the drain coming from the sink or basin is shoved so far back into the larger pipe that the inferior sealant only seeps a few drops from time to time since the vast force of the water running down depends on gravity to keep it from backing back under your sink. The odors still creep around, but who's paying attention these days.

So I'd say track down that plumber with the friction-seal drain equipment and call him back to see where the minor goof may have happened. It's more likely an accident in which you or a renter shoved something under the sink that shouldn't have gone, a renter who went fishing for his wedding ring or piece of his retainer, tore it apart and didn't put it back together correctly than it is a fault with the plumbing design.

Good luck, regardless.