Sink Drain Repair - How to Fix A Leaky Sink Drain Basket

Repairing a leaky drain basket is actually more complicated than repairing sink pipes. Usually, the most common cause of the plumbing leakage is a loose pipe connection. This problem can be easily overcome by tightening the nut that holds the pipe joints together or by winding up a plumber's tape around the connection. Below is a step-by-step instruction on how to fix sink leaks.

Sink Drain Repair - How to Fix A Leaky Sink Drain Basket

Sink Drain Repair - How to Fix A Leaky Sink Drain Basket

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Sink Drain Repair - How to Fix A Leaky Sink Drain Basket

Sink Drain Repair - How to Fix A Leaky Sink Drain Basket

1. Detach the nuts which connect the sink plumbing with the basket strainer using a pair of slip joint pliers. Also detach the nuts which connect the trap and the pipe leading to the house drain. Remove the basket and the trap from the sink plumbing for getting clearer sight.

2. Detach the cardboard washer and rubber washer from the basket by loosening the large nut which secures the washers.

3. Use a rubber mallet or other hard but non destructive tool to remove the plumber's putty which seals the sink basket and the sink together. Scrape of the remaining putty residue around the sink hole with a putty knife.

4. Once the drain basket flange has been removed, you should check it thoroughly for rust or other damages. In most cases, leakages are caused by the water flowing out of the cracks in the plumber's putty seal. If this is the cause of the problem, simply put the drain basket back to its place and seal the parts properly with the putty. On the other hand, if the flange is already rusted, cracked, or damaged, replace it with a new one then repeat the same procedure to install the parts back properly.

5. To strengthen the connection of the sink drain, apply a thin rope of plumber's putty beneath the drain basket flange. For PVC pipes, this method is sufficient enough for preventing further leakages. However, if your sink drain uses metal pipes, plumber's tape applied onto the drain connection will help to strengthen the joints.

6. Place the drain basket back into its proper place. For safe installation, you can ask a family member to hold the sink in place while you attach the plumbing. Don't forget to put back the cardboard washer and rubber washer that you removed previously. If you use new drain basket to replace the damaged one, use the new rubber washer that comes with it.

7. Place back all the nuts to their original positions and make sure all of them are installed tightly and correctly. Before cleaning up, make sure there are no more leakages in the sink drain basket or pipe connection.

Sink Drain Repair - How to Fix A Leaky Sink Drain Basket

Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project

Upgrading a bathroom is one of the more popular home improvement projects. Handling the plumbing for draining your shower can be exceedingly simple unless you go overboard.

Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project

Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project

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Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project

Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project

Whether you are a bathtub or shower person, most people look for shower only options when buying a home. This simple fact means more than a few homeowners spend a weekend upgrading or installing showers in their bathrooms. Fortunately for you, it is a fairly simple process.

A collector or pan refers to the horizontal surface located at the bottom of the shower. The collector typically consists of a non-slip surface slightly banked towards the center or wherever the drain is located. Combined with three to four inch walls around the side, the goal of your shower drainage plumbing is to get the water to flow to and down the drain.

You can physically build a collector for your new shower, but you really need to think about it. Do you really want to get into the complications of getting the sloping correct, not to mention making sure every aspect of it is waterproof? And I mean every aspect! It is much easier to simply buy a pre-cast collector online or at your local Lowes, Home Depot or hardware store. Building one might sound like a great idea, but you will probably feel differently after a couple of hours.

Regardless of how you go about getting a pan, you should make every effort to use one that has the drain located in the same spot as the original pan. Moving the drain pipes can be a task, particularly if the builder used a unique framing structure. If you are determined to move the drain, you are going to have to cut back the pipe or lengthen it, which may mean ripping up large chunks of the floor. Put another way, you are going to be looking at a multiple weekend project.

Assuming we have our drain lined up, the actual hook up is fairly simple. The drainage pipe should be facing vertical up to the collector. It will often look like a "U", which means it acts as a cleanout to keep nasty smells from coming back up from the drain. To connect the drain, you are going to create a water tight connection between a drain cap on the top of the pan and the drainage pipe. Systems vary, but you are typically going to do this by putting a coupling piece on the top of the drainage pipe. This is then covered with gaskets and literally screwed into the drain cap. The drain cap should act as a locknut, to wit, it screws directly onto the coupling.

The tricky part of this process is getting your drain cap to fit into a watertight position in the pan. This is accomplished by backing off the drain cap once you are sure everything fits together. At that point, you put plumbers putty around the underside of the cap and then screw it back on. The putty should form a tight seal between the cap and the shower pan, which keeps water from trickling under it and into the framing under the shower.

Obviously, bathroom showers come in a wide variety of styles these days. If you purchase a collector, they almost always come with plumbing instructions or the store can note anything unusual you should know. It sounds complex, but is typically pretty straight forward. Have fun!

Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project