Bathroom sink tailpiece rubber gasket will not fit properly

[Henry Ramsey]

So I have a bathroom sink I just installed with new tile countertop etc. Standard [strikeout]Kohler[/strikeout] Glacier Bay sink from Home Depot.

Original glued in pipe had a 45 bend in it which was not allowing the new sink to align with it.
Cut all of that off and installed new plumbing from wall out.

I put the drain in, but found it was leaking at the gasket around the tail piece.
I took everything apart and found the rubber gasket is the problem. It will not mate properly with the
hole of the sink. The nut doesn't push it into place either. It squishes it sideways which I guess is why
it leaked to begin with. It's like it's stretched by the pipe a hair to big for the hole in the sink.

I tried to put the gasket on first.
The gasket fits without the pipe perfectly, but then the pipe will not push through the hole and nor will it screw through either. I tried to 30 minutes to force it and all I got was a sore hand and back.


Any ideas of what to try next?

 

[Terry]

How about a picture of what you have? 800 pixels or less.
A tail piece for a lav faucet is 1-1/4" tubular. ABS comes in 1-1/2" sizing that allows the tubular fittings to fit inside.

This is a 1.5" tubular p-trap that uses either the 1.5" or the reducing to 1.25" for a lav tail piece.

Or do you mean the washer under the lav? They do tend to be a snug fit over the drain.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Henry Ramsey]

How about a picture of what you have? 800 pixels or less.
A tail piece for a lav faucet is 1-1/4" tubular. ABS comes in 1-1/2" sizing that allows the tubular fittings to fit inside.

This is a 1.5" tubular p-trap that uses either the 1.5" or the reducing to 1.25" for a lav tail piece.

Or do you mean the washer under the lav? They do tend to be a snug fit over the drain.

OK. Photo attached. The seal as you can see is not sitting right in the hole. Also, it's a Glacier Bay sink not Kohler.

The tail pipe is a normal off the shelf part from Home Depot. The plastic kind that is a step below the chromed one they sell if that makes sense.

 

[Terry]

I have had issues with the holes in lavs sometimes not being round and having a poor fit with a drain washer like that.
Does it leak? And if so where? Sometimes water will find it's way down the threads.

 

[Henry Ramsey]

Yep. Leaking around the seal. That gap seems to be the leak point. It doesn't leak immediately, but it starts a drip-drip-drip
a few moments after the water is shut off. Sounds like water is getting into the plumbers putty and as you said running the threads and past the seal.

I tried to put that rubber against the lav bottom and push the pipe through or screw it through as I said originally but it didn't work. The seal is a hair smaller than the pipe and too tight to let it pass.

Any ideas what to try next? This is literally the only thing standing between using this lav.

 

[Terry]

Leaking past threads I use some stainless putty on the threads where the rubber sits around it.
With metal drains, I can use pipe dope or the putty on the threads.
Nothing on the rubber.

 

[Henry Ramsey]

OK. Let me ask this before I go on. Is this gasket supposed to go inside the opening or just soft seal against it?

If it is supposed to go into the hole then that is something wrong with the sink opening being too small to accept the seal plus the pipe passing through.

Otherwise, I am just doing something wrong with how I've set the top and bottom.

Here is a better photo of the drain opening in the sink from below. FWIW
OH that black mark is not a crack on the sink. It's china marker to guide where
I set sealant for the sink.

 

[Reach4]

OK. Let me ask this before I go on. Is this gasket supposed to go inside the opening or just soft seal against it?

If it is supposed to go into the hole then that is something wrong with the sink opening being too small to accept the seal plus the pipe passing through.

Do you see the gasket under the lavatory on Terry's picture on #2? Gasket hits the bottom of the lav/sink.

See that gap? If you rotate the drain 180 degrees, and the gap stays where it is, the sink is bad. If the gap rotates with the drain, the drain is bad. I am betting on the sink.

 

[Dj2]

I've had sinks like this before. This sink could be defective indeed.
Can you tighten the big nut more?
If not, grind the opening with a masonry blade. Go easy with the grinder.

The second option is to go back to the store and get another sink.

 

[Henry Ramsey]

I will try again tomorrow and see if I can get a better seal by tightening the nut.

I do not really want to try to remove the sink since I used 100% silicone sealant under there and it's been about 4 weeks
since I set it. Never intended to have to take it up. Gonna be really hard to get it up if I must.

I have a Dremel tool, but I do not look forward to attempting to enlarge that hole either.

it's an UGH and Oh $hit situation no matter what.

Oddball thing is that the gasket seats on the hole just fine without the pipe through it.
BUT the pipe will not pass through the gasket if I mount the gasket first.
I will have to try harder on this. Maybe I can wiggle it through.

 

[Cwhyu2]

Before you try to grind on that sink (bad idea IMO) I would try a metal pop up assembly. They are not much more dollar wise, and easier to work with.

 

[Michael Young]

So I have a bathroom sink I just installed with new tile countertop etc. Standard [strikeout]Kohler[/strikeout] Glacier Bay sink from Home Depot.

Original glued in pipe had a 45 bend in it which was not allowing the new sink to align with it.
Cut all of that off and installed new plumbing from wall out.

I put the drain in, but found it was leaking at the gasket around the tail piece.
I took everything apart and found the rubber gasket is the problem. It will not mate properly with the
hole of the sink. The nut doesn't push it into place either. It squishes it sideways which I guess is why
it leaked to begin with. It's like it's stretched by the pipe a hair to big for the hole in the sink.

I tried to put the gasket on first.
The gasket fits without the pipe perfectly, but then the pipe will not push through the hole and nor will it screw through either. I tried to 30 minutes to force it and all I got was a sore hand and back.


Any ideas of what to try next?

ok. START OVER. READ THE DIRECTIONS

Teflon tape on the top where the drain screws in. Clear Silicone (not plumbers putty) under the lip (inside the sink). Underneath, make sure you use the large washer. it will keep the rubber from rolling on you. Use your fingers to push it up into the opening on the bottom of the sink. Hand tight the large nut. Finish with a pair of channel locks. If you notice there is a gap, put a bead of clear silicone on the large rubber gasket underneath. Be careful not to make a hideous mess with the 100% clear silicone caulk. Snug it all together. Connect your trap. Hook up you popup mechanism. meticulously clean up any excess silicone.

Note: Yes, I know the majority of you use plumbers putty. I've been doing this for 30+ years. It works. Period.

 

[Terry]

I've been doing this for 30+ years.

I've been plumbing for 45 years. There are more than one way to do these. Mine don't leak either.
I have had to follow plumbers that messed things up with Silicone. It can be a problem too for some.

 

[Michael Young]

I've been plumbing for 45 years. There are more than one way to do these. Mine don't leak either.
I have had to follow plumbers that messed things up with Silicone. It can be a problem too for some.

It rarely gets cold where I live. But cold plumbers putty = massive pain. Also, guys will peel off the excess and put it back in the container and after a couple of jobs, you have a dried-out mess with little pieces of debris embedded in it. I've found that silicone straight from the tube is fresh and clean and near never leaks. And if you don't gunk it up, it's easy to clean-up. I know we all have our own ways of doing things. How the hell have you been doing this 45 years Terry. You don't look beat up by the trades at all. Did you photoshop yourself, or did you use a 20-year old picture of yourself

 

[Terry]

How the hell have you been doing this 45 years Terry. You don't look beat up by the trades at all. Did you photoshop yourself, or did you use a 20-year old picture of yourself

November 2011

March 18 2018

Last night. This is what 66 looks like. Earlier I had gone skiing at Stevens Pass.

Stevens Pass for skiing

This is what 50 looks like. Trail head for Cascade Pass.

Now I think we need some Michael Young pictures.

 

[Henry Ramsey]

Got it fixed!

I got a pair of good channel lock pliers which could actually grip the nut better than my old "genuine" vice grip pliers.
The rubber was forced into place by giving about 3 turns more than I could make before.

Put the stopper in an filled the sink. No more leak. It held water for 5 minutes without draining.
I may still put a bead of clear 100% silicone around the drain inside as a good measure.

BTW, I think the other reason why it was leaking before is that I have to slightly pull on the tail slightly sideways
to mate it up with the trap; it's fractions of an inch off being straight.
That small bit of torque mixed with the seal not being seated right obviously opened enough gap to let water pass.
With the rubber gasket fully seated that seems to have sealed any gaps now.

Now, the faucet is another story. I bought a clearance faucet at Home Depot about a year ago for ~$8 that sat unused in my closet
for this bathroom. Did not notice when I bought it that the *@#$# thing was well used by it's prior owner.
Handle broken and aerator clogged with calcium deposit seems like this was used and someone probably did a switcheroo on the store.

It's long past time to return it obviously. I could just do without the handles for a time, but the aerator is so clogged that only a
tiny strip of water barely leaks out and this one cannot be taken apart to clear debris.

So I need a new aerator now and handles and I'm in business.

Anyway, thanks guys this sink is *almost* usable now.

 

[Reach4]

BTW, I think the other reason why it was leaking before is that I have to slightly pull on the tail slightly sideways
to mate it up with the trap; it's fractions of an inch off being straight.
That small bit of torque mixed with the seal not being seated right obviously opened enough gap to let water pass.
With the rubber gasket fully seated that seems to have sealed any gaps now.

I think you are calling vertical "straight", right? If that is the case, you should have been able to relieve stress by loosening the trap adapter nut and then re-tightening.

You should not have had stress on the bottom of that tailpiece while tightening the big nut.

 

[Henry Ramsey]

Yes. Vertical would be straight. But to mate the trap and tail I have not choice but move it sideways slightly.

The original plumbing was all glued and had a 45 degree bend to the trap and then tail piece for the sink.
It was builder grade (1970s condo) sink plus laminate on particle board.
I did not note the original location when I made the opening for the new sink.
I centered new sink on the mid-line of the vanity cabinet front and sides.
I thought that was how the original was set and found to my chagrin I was wrong.
I had no chance to mate the new sink with the old plumbing so I had to start over.

I cut out the old plumbing up to the wall used a coupling and trap adaptor plus the pipe to the trap.
Even so there is probably 1/8" of sideways play. It's all water tight now though. I tried loosening that trap
adaptor and adjusting it from there after I took these photos, but it did not give me any change.

Since it's water tight I'm not planning on messing with it anytime soon.
If I were to want to fix it what would you suggest?

 

[Reach4]

How about a P-trap like the one in my avatar to the left? Just kidding. That is a fake, but they should make one for real I think.

So if you turn the bottom of the p-trap so that it is pointing to the 9 o'clock position, instead of 8 o-clock position, is that enough to bring the p-trap in line? If it were, you could shorten the trap arm up to intersect.

Do you think you could slip one of these 1-1/2 in. 45° Slip Joint Elbows into the trap arm path?

Here is another idea:
This one is in chrome. Anyway cut where the red line is. Stick cut end oft the big piece into your trap adapter, and slip the trap adapter into the other end.

 

[Henry Ramsey]

No. I don't think it would fit if I moved it. That would open the distance too much unless I get a longer p-trap.
I'm not getting any more leaks from there anyway so long as it's water tight I aim not to mess further with it.

I'm getting some seepage under the faucet and through the hole for the plunger now.
I'll fix that with some silicone around the faucet when I get the new aerator.

Sink holds water so that is done.