Pico’s Project: Sink drain repair

Hello, friends! One of the perks of home ownership is that there is always something to do! One of the perks of being handy is that you can fix things yourself! (also that is one of the drawbacks because you won’t call someone to fix something you can fix yourself). So, that means I have been putting this project off for way too long (I’m sorry, my dear wife. (It is her sink)). The bathroom sink had a pop-up stopper but the base had broken so it had popped its last pop. Since, I’m on break from work I’m working through my task list.

Replacing a sink drain is not that big of a deal. I’ve done it a handful of times now, but let me tell you what made this one more of pain in the neck.

Issues: Part 1

1. The drain was caulked. Not just a little caulk instead of plumbers putty, but caulk all over. This meant I had to scrape all the bits of caulk off the porcelain so that new fixture could have a nice clean mount.
2. Oh what? More caulk. Caulk up and down the threads on the drain and on every joint which is completely unnecessary unless you’re bad at plumbing (which the installer obviously was. This is the 4th plumbing related thing I’ve had to address since moving into this house a couple of years ago). Do you know what fun it is trying to unscrew fittings through old caulk? The short answer is it is not fun at all. It requires a lot of leverage and obnoxiously sized channel locks. It also required an assistant to apply counter pressure so I didn’t rip anything out of the wall.
3. Oh what is that? Oh more caulk. Replacing drains is always gross to being with but I found an additional issue. Where the drain went into the wall there was sludge and it wasn’t pretty. I think there was so much sludge that it was actually preventing a leak from being noticeable. The 1.25" pipe to the 1.5" pipe connector was caulked. After taking it apart it was because the wrong coupling was used. The nut had a wedge built into it which split the plastic flange which was supposed to form the seal. Don’t worry…. they caulked it.

I took everything apart and cleaned it and tossed all the old parts in a bucket and went shopping for replacement parts. There have been so many trips made to the hardware store because I wasn’t exactly sure on the measurements that I’ve adjusted my behavior and now bring every old part with me that I need to replace. Consider that my handyman tip for you.

Issues: Part 2

1. I went to the local hardware and looked for a replacement drain. It is a double sink so I wanted them to match. Did they have one to match? No. Of course, not. So, I drove downtown to get one at their flagship store. Did they have one? No. Of course, not. Spending an extra hour driving is not my favorite. There are now mismatched drains in the sinks but it doesn’t look that bad.
2. The flagship store is full of well seasoned plumbers. They are helpful and tend to make you feel stupid at the same time. It is like asking my dad for help. I was able to explain my problems and they sent me away with a new mismatched drain and some better gaskets and a plastic nut that will not split the gasket.
3. Installing the new drain was going well but the new drain was a little too long, so I went out to the garage to get my pipe cutter. I found, my little pipe cutter but I could not find my big one. I tore the tool boxes apart looking for it, but I had to call it and hopped into the car and went back to the hardware to buy a larger pipe cutter. There is nothing quite like buying a tool that you know you already have but just cannot find. On the bright side, I found my knippex pliers that had gone missing for the last month and was totally pumped to find them. They are the best tool I have ever bought.

With the drain cut, all the pieces came together and the joints were tightened. Time for testing!

Issues: Part 3

1. I try and hand tighten all those plastic joints as if you apply too much pressure it can deform the gaskets and then you’ll have a leak, so I creep up on the tightness so I don’t over do it. The first was test had leaks galore.
2. After tightening the joints, I was able to do a pressure test. The stopper plugged up the sink and held water with no leaks! Progress!
3. While draining the sink, there was a small leak coming from the new drain pipe. I couldn’t tighten it to stop the leak and it was getting to the point where I thought I was going to damage the gaskets, so I had to take it all apart. It turns out that the down pipe was threaded into the drain. I have never encountered such a thing. The fix required some teflon tape and some serious tightening. I also considered bringing in the old components to use a more traditional joint but all the old caulking would have to be cleaned up and I just couldn’t bear it.

You can see where the sludge was building up and the teflon tape that had to be added to the down pipe. If you look at the bottom of the sink you can see the remnants of old caulk.

After the reassembling the pressure test passed with no leaks and the drain passed with no leaks! It only took me 5 hours from start to finish! What a lovely way to spend a vacation day. Oh yeah… I woke up with a migraine and it has been my companion all day long through this project. At least it is done.

All done! If you look at the photo to the left you can see chunks of caulk that had fallen below during cleaning.

Thank you for reading!