@davidro1, I'm not concerned with the pop-up mechanism at all. I was concerned with the pop up housing being level with the drain line. I was worried that if water stayed in the pop up housing, that the housing might be prone to leaks (at the point where the ball and rod go into the drain pipe). I was also concerned with any code issues. I remember reading somewhere that there is a maximum allowable distance the p-trap can rise from the low point to the drain line. I assumed that reversing the j-bend would result in too much of a height difference to be code compliant (I'm still assuming this, since nobody has chimed in on this issue). However, more than the legality of it all, I really just wanted to know what bad consequences might happen as a result of reversing a j-bend. @jimsonburg, Thanks for the SPAM. Not. @homebound, I was concerned about the connections. The waste arm has the flared tip, but it doesn't seem so different from the plastic washer thing that goes in the tailpiece. I've went ahead and reversed the j-trap, and everything fits fine and feels really solid. I filled up the sink, drained it all at once, and there are no leaks. I've even opened up the pop up housing (where the ball goes in) and to my surprise, there is no standing water in there (the water line sits just below that). I'll keep an eye on it to make sure nothing leaks. If it does, I'm sure we'll notice it right away, before there's any major damage. Aside from a few bottles of cleaning supplies, we don't really use the cabinet under the sink, so maybe I'll just leave an old aluminum lasagna pan down there. At least that way, it'll catch any leakage should any occur, and it will alert me to any leakage by amplifying the sound of any drips.

From the US Inspect website: The full "S" trap or 3/4 "S" trap should not be used in plumbing installations. These traps are almost impossible to vent properly. The 3/4 "SÂ trap forms a perfect siphon. The problem with "S" traps is that the waste water may siphon out, causing the trap to lose its liquid seal. Every plumbing fixture, such as sinks, tubs and showers, should have a proper trap. Toilet traps are built into the bowl of the toilet. If a sink, etc. does not have a trap, trace the drain for other inequities that may be present (i.e. draining into a sump pump, a dry well or to the exterior surface). In older construction, there are thousands of "S" traps in use. Older building codes did not address this issue. In many cases it will be very difficult to change an "S" trap to a "P" trap. Can you install a studor vent to alleviate this problem?

Maybe I have my terminology wrong. I bought a longer waste arm to extend it. Is the coupler the problem? So to make it code, I will have to find a way to access that one compression nut that held the original waste arm pipe? That means I will have to knock out some of my foundation to get to it. I can not believe it passed code the way the original plumber did it. He buried the compression nut that holds the waste arm in brick and mortar. Just a small section is exposed. I can go into the crawl space and cut the waste line where it is glued and start over. I still will have to knock out some of the foundation brick to even get the pipe and nut out but maybe not as much. Thanks for the heads up.

It's difficult for me to tell what vertical and horizontal restrictions the drawer cutout places on the installation as a whole. The trap arm, which is the horizontal chrome piece that is currently slip-fit inside the black ABS fitting in the wall? That chrome trap arm can be shortened. That would allow the trap arm to be slipped further into the ABS fitting, moving the trap closer to the back wall. It's difficult to tell from the photo, but it looks like you could shorten the trap arm by roughly two pipe diameters before the curve of the arm impinges on the threaded slip fitting that secures the arm to the black ABS fitting. If simply removing a few inches off of the end of the trap arm won't do the trick, there are numerous ways the plumber can alter that assembly to get the sink closer to the wall. If allowed by code, an offset sink tailpiece might help out. An offset drain tailpiece, coupled with shortening the trap arm should get you close. The tight fit between the drawer cutout does remove some of the options due to lateral restrictions. For a start though, ask about the two things I've mentioned; shortening the trap arm, and using an offset drain tailpiece. Those are the simplest. If it is allowed, have the offset tailpiece on hand before the trap arm is shortened. If the drawer cutout doesn't restrict the trap layout, there are quite a few other ways the sink could be accommodated.