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Clarence Martin
02-24-2015, 4:22 PM
Got a Kitchen sink . The 2 bowl kind. The left side seems fine. It is the right side that is the problem. Turned the water on for a couple of days so that the pipe would not freeze up. It's been REAL COLD !! Well, I went upstairs to check on the water, and I found a sauce pan full of water in the cabinet under the sink. I happened to leave a sauce pan under that sink and it turns out it was in the right spot to catch all the water.

Drained all the water and cleaned everything up, but I found where the leak is coming from. It on the edge of the flange??? that screws into the bottom of the sink.

What are my options on fixing it ? Do I have to buy a whole new sink, or can I just replace the parts under the sink that are leaking ?

Kent A Bathurst
02-24-2015, 4:32 PM
............I found where the leak is coming from. It on the edge of the flange??? that screws into the bottom of the sink.............

It is leaking around the drain connection?

Clarence Martin
02-24-2015, 4:43 PM
Yes, small leak on the left side of the round part that screws into the bottom of the sink right under where the strainer is.

Wes Mitchell
02-24-2015, 4:44 PM
If I'm understanding the problem correctly, I think you can just pull the flange off, put a rope of plumber's putty on the flange, then re-tighten it.

ken masoumi
02-24-2015, 4:57 PM
+1 to use Plumber's putty,some older drains use rubber seals which get brittle and crack.

Kent A Bathurst
02-24-2015, 5:05 PM
What I don't get is this: How did the water get to that spot? Was the drain completely backed up, so there was standing water around the flange? IN normal use, the water would just flow past that joint into the drain.

Sealing the drain flange is a legit step. BUT - I'm wondering how/why the problem happened........was the drain pipe frozen, so the continuous inbound flow filled up a frozen drain? [great move, BTW - kept the supply line from freezing].

Just wondering if you are treating the symptom, and not the disease.....................

Mike Lassiter
02-24-2015, 5:30 PM
Clarence are you talking about a leak from the sink basket that fastens on the bottom of the sink, then the drain pipe attaches to it? Sort of a real big threaded on "nut" for lack of proper term that tightens up and pulls the flange that is in the sink down to the recessed area for the basket to sit? If that is what you mean, as already noted the rubber gasket could have dried and shrunk some, but the primary seal is the plumbers putty that is applied around the flange then as you tighten the big nut on the under side of the sink you squeeze the flange down into the putty and seal it. Possibly you just need to try tightening the nut some.

Doug W Swanson
02-24-2015, 5:31 PM
I ran into this same problem about a month ago. What happened in my situation was the plumber's putty had dried out over time and was letting water go into the cabinet. Since this is the side of the sink where we air dry the dishes, I didn't notice the problem sooner.
It only took me about 15 minutes to replace the old plumber's putty with new stuff...

Jim Matthews
02-24-2015, 6:13 PM
It's been cold.

Drain pipes exposed to the outside temperatures
will move slightly, as they contract.

Just as baseboards 'groan' when the heat comes on,
but in reverse. Good advise on a fresh bead of putty.

Myk Rian
02-24-2015, 6:58 PM
If I'm understanding the problem correctly, I think you can just pull the flange off, put a rope of plumber's putty on the flange, then re-tighten it.
^^^^This^^^^

Dave Zellers
02-24-2015, 8:48 PM
Of course, there are those who would simply opt to empty the pan now and then ...:D

Raise your hand if you "know" anyone like that ... :rolleyes:

ken masoumi
02-24-2015, 9:09 PM
Of course, there are those who would simply opt to empty the pan now and then ...:D

Raise your hand if you "know" anyone like that ... :rolleyes:
The ex owner of the house I now own is one.but instead of a big pot he used a tall drinking glass which would have been alright if he was there to empty it every night but he did not live in this house,one tall glass unattended for months,you can imagine the damage to the cabinet the floor and the ceiling right underneath it.the whole job would have taken 10 minutes to do it right.

Tom M King
02-24-2015, 9:32 PM
^^^^This^^^^

Yes, that's it.

Tom M King
02-24-2015, 9:32 PM
Of course, there are those who would simply opt to empty the pan now and then ...:D

Raise your hand if you "know" anyone like that ... :rolleyes:
Every plumber I know has a bucket under a sink.

Dave Zellers
02-24-2015, 9:37 PM
Every plumber I know has a bucket under a sink.
Kind of like cabinet makers with unfinished kitchens?

>>GUILTY<< :eek:

Tom M King
02-24-2015, 9:50 PM
I do it all, so everything at our house is unfinished, but we've only been here for 35 years.

Bonnie Campbell
02-24-2015, 10:38 PM
Dealt with the flange leaking. Apparently I didn't get it done right a while back. So, since I had to replace the garbage disposal this past week, I pulled both flanges and replaced the putty. No leaks around them.... But dang the leak at one of the drain pipe joints! Hoping I got it this last time. A bucket is very close to taking up residency under the very, very slow leak!

Dave Zellers
02-24-2015, 10:54 PM
I do it all, so everything at our house is unfinished, but we've only been here for 35 years.
Amen Brother!

Only 27 years here. I let it slip that I was going to finish the kitchen this summer and sometime later heard, "I'm on his schedule!".

:cool: We're good, she understands. But it probably IS time. :cool:

Get the kids out on their own first, kitchen second.





My developing problem is, the kids have been on their own for over 10 years ... :eek: How'd that happen?!

Kent A Bathurst
02-24-2015, 11:42 PM
It's been cold.

Drain pipes exposed to the outside temperatures
will move slightly, as they contract.

Just as baseboards 'groan' when the heat comes on,
but in reverse. Good advise on a fresh bead of putty.

That solves my confusion, Jim - Thanks. Could not make the hook from a leaking drain to the cold temps - but assumed there had to be one.


Of course, there are those who would simply opt to empty the pan now and then ...:D

Raise your hand if you "know" anyone like that ... :rolleyes:

Yeah - sounds exactly like my wife's almost-future-former husband, the first time I tried it.............:eek:

Dave Zellers
02-24-2015, 11:49 PM
Yeah - sounds exactly like my wife's almost-future-former husband, the first time I tried it.............:eek:

Persistence, man, persistence.

Charlie Velasquez
02-25-2015, 10:25 AM
Every plumber I know has a bucket under a sink.
A school custodian "permantly" solved a slow leak with a bucket and a towel suspended into it. Capillary action pulled the water up where it evaporated.
A maintenance worker noticed it while working on an unrelated issue and asked her when the leak started.
"Oh, about ten years ago..."

Tom M King
02-25-2015, 10:34 AM
It's very easy to tighten the flange up too tight, squeezing all the plumbers putty out of that joint, causing such a leak.