Help!!! I’m in a 25 year old home and need to replace the kitchen faucet. The builder used a less deep formica countertop that just fits a 2-basin, stainless steel, rimmed, 19×33 inch sink (standard size sink is 22×33 inch). There is no back splash on the sink and only one hole for the faucet. The sink almost butts up to the back wall of the cabinet. Because of the tight space, I can’t get a wrench (or a plumber’s wrench) into the space to loosen the nut holding the faucet in place. Get the picture? So, no problem, I’ll just remove the sink allowing me to get to the faucet to loosen the nut, right?
The builder, or someone since him, used outdoor caulking to seal the sink in! It’s holding the sink in place like glue. It’s not liquid nails as I can see the caulking and its white. The caulk is really hard and and only slightly flexible (definitely not bathroom and kitchen caulk). I have been able to get the blade from a utility knife between the sink and countertop and cut some of the caulk out. This is a real slow and tedious process, but I have been able to get most of the caulk cut. However, I can’t get the blade in the back of the sink to cut the putty there. I don’t really want to mess up the formica countertop. Any ideas on what I can do to get the rest of the caulk cut or softened up so I can remove the sink.
Replies
WARM it up with a hair dryer or heat gun and then shove / pound an end sharpened flat thin narrow piece of sheet metal in from either end to slice thru what might be silly cone adhesive. Go easy on forcing anything.
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
3M has a caulk remover that is really its safe paint remover (white creamy stuff) but put in a small package, relabeled, and sold for ten times as much. But it works at softening caulk. I can't say if it would damage the laminate, but it has no effect on bath plastic.
Do you just want to replace the faucet? Or are you going to replace the sink as well?
From what I can gather, it sounds like you just want to replace the faucet but you couldn't get to the under side to loosen the nuts holding the faucet. There is a gadget I think it's called a basin wrench that's made for the purpose. Have you tried you wrench set with a deep socket and an extension?
Tom
Thanks to all who responded. I will try the heat gun (hair drier) first--it seems like the best bang for the buck (free). If that doesn't work, I guess I'll check out the caulking softener.
Tomchark, yes, I only want to change the faucet. I do have a basin wrench or plumber's wrench. It is one of those doodads with a swivel jaw on one end, a long rod body, and a sliding "T" handle at the other end from the jaw. I have used it for other sinks, and it works great. However, this sink has one tight space. Picture a triangle with about 1/4" to 3/8" space between two sides of the triangle (the sink side) and the edge of the nut. The other side of the triangle faces the wall and would have more room, but the counter top comes down real close to the nut limiting the space (again 1/4" to 3/8").
That's much tighter than I think. Let us know how it goes so we can all learn something.
Tom
Since the faucet is trash anyway, have you tried drilling through the nut holding the faucet in place? Then you can spread the nut enough so it drops off the threads....or drill through both sides so it splits the nut. Start with a small bit to drill a starter hole, then start increasing the size until the nut is split. Just don't get over zealous and punch through the sink.
See if you can do what the installer probably did: remove the countertop , reinstall the taps , reinstall top. Worked for me.
............Rik.............
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I cut and pried and heat gunned until the sink finally came out. What a mess. I only cracked the formica in a couple of places (1/2 to 1 inch long, repaired with epoxy, not too visible). I used a screwdriver to wedge the sink rim up a little to help with the blade cutting, that's where the cracks came from. My older son also pushed from the bottom to get some additional room. The screwdriver ended up bending the rim out of shape in a few places too, so I had to rubber hammer it back into shape.
From all the effort, the plumber's putty in the left sink drain cracked. It took almost as long to get the drain off as it did to get the sink off. It was plastic nut to plastic threads, but it was really frozen on good. One-eighth of a turn at a time with someone (older son) doing the turning with a hammer and screwdriver and me holding the drain in place so it wouldn't turn with the big nut. Had to clean out the threads really good to be sure I could get it back together with some new putty.
But.....Now the new faucet is in place and everything works great. Got one of those Price Pfister's that have the hose coming out of the faucet body---all one piece. It looks and works great. I'm happy even though a 2 hour job ended up taking nearly 11 hours. (I told my wife it wouldn't take more than 5 hours. She said she'd double it--shouldn't take you more than 10. As usual, I proved her right again!)
Amazing how accurate those wives are. Maybe I should get one just to help me with my estimating.
SamT
Don't do it!! they come with too many wierd ideas and demands.
That's a good story.
You shouldn't have used a rubber hammer. A ball peen to beat the heck out of you vintage sink and you'll have one that looks like one of those $2500.00 sink.
O.K. here is the scoop. The first 90% of the job takes 90% 0f the time and the remaining 10% takes another 90% of the time.
Tom