Help! Leaky Sink!
Help!
I'm at my Mom's house and I heard a water drip, then a trickle and now its a steady stream of water leaking from below the sink! I know my Momma's got some water damage under there but I just need a quick fix until she can get the bigger problem resolved. Here are some pics of the problem. It seems to be leaking from the top, what should I buy to seal this off? Any particular brand that you guys know of that will work for sure??
Thanks!
I'm at my Mom's house and I heard a water drip, then a trickle and now its a steady stream of water leaking from below the sink! I know my Momma's got some water damage under there but I just need a quick fix until she can get the bigger problem resolved. Here are some pics of the problem. It seems to be leaking from the top, what should I buy to seal this off? Any particular brand that you guys know of that will work for sure??
Thanks!


















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To replace the strainer you will have to disassemble all of the fittings below the strainer. Then remove the large basket strainer retaining nut. If the strainer is sealed with putty, it should be relatively easy to remove. If it was sealed with silicone you might have to use a rubber mallet or a block of wood and a hammer to dislodge it. Once you remove the strainer basket, clean the drain hole on both sides of the sink and remove any particulate matter. The opening must be clean and smooth to make a good seal.
One you have removed the strainer and cleaned the sink you are ready to install the new basket strainer. The new fitting should come with the strainer, retaining nut and usually 2 gaskets. The gaskets go under the sink between the nut and the sink bottom. I prefer to use clear silicone to make the topside seal between the sink and the new basket. Use a good bead of silicone all the way around the strainer. Place the strainer in the drain hole, then place the rubber gasket on the bottom side first, then the fiber gasket. Next, screw on the retaining nut. Once it is good and tight, quickly clean up the excess silicone on the top side with denatured alcohol. Let the drain sit over night so the silicone sealer can cure. The next day you can reassemble the rest of the drain fittings and use the sink again.
I'm not familiar with this style of waste fitting, but it looks like the grey section is fastened through the sink by half a dozen screws or bolts?
That section is also corroded.
I'd try undoing the screws and looking for a perished rubber or silicon washer that will need replacing.
In all seriousness though, replacing the defunct part outright is cheaper and quicker :)
also when the white plastic pieces drain pieces break (and they will because they get bumped around) you can take the whole thing off and take it to the hardware store to "make" another one with new pieces.
If that is the case, you could try to tighten up the nut to see if it will seal up. Otherwise, the tailpiece white pipe was installed without the nylon tailpiece washer which is like a ring with a lip(L-shape cross-profile instead of the slip-joint tapered profile or flat washers on the other pieces). Which explains the long standing wet conditions to get the black mold going. Normal pipe expansion could have shifted the pipe a bit so just try loosening the nut and recentering the pipe and tighten up.
If the leak is coming above the grey ring, you need a plumber's spanner or wrench with the wide grip to grab those nubs on the ring which is a big nut to tighten down the sink drain and compress the composite felt washers there. You will need plumber's putty and new gaskets to replace if you take apart the sink drainpiece. Of course, that is a difficult job with the sink mounted in place.
You could do with that "as-seen'on-TV" silicone wrap tape to go around the fixture but that is not a good permanent fix.
Good luck.