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Thread: Replacing a kitchen sink basket, what to do?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Upstate NY
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    3,789

    Replacing a kitchen sink basket, what to do?

    We have lived here for 7 years, and the kitchen sink started to leak right at the top of the drain basket. I got it off using a screw driver and a hammer (and a lot of WD40) as I didn't have a wrench nearly large enough. Everything looks fine; maybe it just loosened up after 7 years?
    I have 4 options.
    1) I can cut a new cardboard ring and reinstall the old basket. Free
    2) I can buy a new basket similar to the old one. $10
    3) I can buy one that has a small nut that tightens near the bottom, rather than at the top $15
    4) I can buy one that tightens with 3 thumb screws. $12

    On 1 and 2 I can tighten with a screwdriver and hammer (as I removed the old one) or buy a wrench for $6. 3 and 4 look to be somewhat better quality than 1 and 2. I don't want to spend more than I have to, but my primary interest is doing something that will work.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Longmont, CO
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    810
    you should be using plumbers putty around the strainer. roll out about a 1/4 in dia. snake that goes around the strainer flange all the way, and then install the strainer, it should squish out all the way around. easy to remove with your hands.

    Not sure what a piece of cardboard is doing in there. I like the kind with a nut, i just use a strap wrench or channel locks usually. I do not like the kind with the thumb screws.

    i just had to replace one in our house that broke off the tail where the pipe screws in. No idea how but must have been installed wrong from the previous owner. bought the glacier bay one from the borg for 10 or 15 bucks. works fine.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Newburgh, Indiana
    Posts
    918
    AFter having so many calls from tenants about leaks around the sink flange, I gave up on plumbers putty. Sooner or later that stuff dries out and leaks. I now use silicone. End of problems.
    Life's too short to use old sandpaper.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    8,973
    2 problems with Plumbers Putty is that people tighten too much, squeezing it all out, and even the non-staining type still will develop a stain radiating out after a period of time. I also use Silicone, don't tighten it all the way for several days, and then go back to tighten it a little more after you're sure it's completely cured.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,889
    Plumbers putty. I take out more then I will need and microwave wave it to warm it up. Saves a lot of time and as I get older hand strength goes down. Use something disposable when you nuke it. I have an old coffee mug for junk like this.
    Bil lD.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Falls Church, VA
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    2,336
    Blog Entries
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    I would take this opportunity to put in a deep basket strainer. I’m a big fan of Kraus sinks, faucets and strainers. I’ve had great support from those folks. The first sink we got from them had this deep strainer. We liked it so much we got rid of the disposal and never looked back.

    the link below appears similar.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012Q5RTSW..._n0XzDb05W020Q

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Herman View Post
    you should be using plumbers putty around the strainer. roll out about a 1/4 in dia. snake that goes around the strainer flange all the way, and then install the strainer, it should squish out all the way around. easy to remove with your hands.

    Not sure what a piece of cardboard is doing in there. I like the kind with a nut, i just use a strap wrench or channel locks usually.
    The cardboard keeps the nut from gripping the rubber washer, and bunching it up. I like to put a thin coat of silicon grease on rubber washer where it rubs against the card board. You can cut a washer from an oil bottle to use instead of cardboard washer.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Upstate NY
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    3,789
    I just installed this....
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    because the small nut on the bottom is so much easier to deal with then the ones that have large nuts on the top.

    I was surprised to find out it had a rubber washer above the sink so it doesn't use plumber's putty. That ought to work, wouldn't you think? I wonder why no one else does it.
    I actually bought putty along with it, and now have to decide whether to return it. I have owned a house for 35 years without using it, so the odds are I never will; but is it petty to return it when there is nothing wrong with it?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Michigan, USA
    Posts
    548
    Quote Originally Posted by Wade Lippman View Post
    I actually bought putty along with it, and now have to decide whether to return it. I have owned a house for 35 years without using it, so the odds are I never will; but is it petty to return it when there is nothing wrong with it?
    For plumbing projects, my go-to source is my local Ace Hardware store. Their advice (which is generally sound) is buy everything you might need and bring back what you don't need - and I've never had any pushback when I do a return. Saves a lot of trips back-and-forth.

    If you bought your stuff on-line, I guess it's a question of whether the cost of the putty is worth your time to screw around sending it back.

  10. I have had to redo a number of drains and I have always found it is best to replace everything at the same time. Spend the extra $10 and save yourself some aggravation later. Also, if you go to a local plumbing supply house you will find a lot more options.

    I have had plumbers putty drains going on ten years and not had a problem. Do not over-tighten. It squeezes out all the goo.

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