Author Topic: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly  (Read 4656 times)

ritchie70

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"man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« on: March 07, 2014, 10:43:43 AM »
A few days the "waste assembly" (the part with the little arm that goes up and down to raise the drain plug) broke on one of our bathroom sinks. The piece where the arm goes in just snapped off the drain pipe.

(I'm talking about this piece -> http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_ID=14526&ca=gpsl&CAWELAID=433373846&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CK-Gtvf6gL0CFa9cMgodNl8ARQ)

I assume this, and the sink, which is one of those molded "man-made marble" all-in-one dual sinks and countertop, are both original to our 1979 house.

I've swapped the corresponding piece on kitchen sinks, but the material this sink is made of makes me nervous.

Has anyone swapped one of those out? Should I go in expecting smooth sailing, or expecting the sink to break?

It's the sink my wife uses, and she says she "needs" to be able to plug the sink. Since there's a 3/4-inch hole in the side of the pipe at the moment, she's been using the other sink but she isn't very happy about it.

If the consensus is it's likely to break, I'll get a rubber stopper, wrap it with some of that silicon stop-leak tape and put a bucket under it until I'm ready to actually replace the counter and both sinks.

Thanks!

Spork

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2014, 11:00:42 AM »
I think I've replaced one.... and I know I've installed them new. 

The only problems I have had were lack of the right sized parts and the right tools.  (I was working at a friend's house and had to guess what tools I would need... and she guessed what parts to buy.  The result was multiple trips home for tools and multiple trips to Home Depot for "just one more part".)

The main problem with old plumbing is that it just turns to snot in your hands.  I would expect more problems with the actual plumbing than the sink.  It's fiberglass and will probably last forever.

Milspecstache

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2014, 11:02:30 AM »
I've done this repair 5 or more times.  Messy and you have to use plumber's putty but it isn't a hard job.  If it broke it is probably too old to repair/live with so I would just go ahead and swap it out with a new part.  Let us know how it goes.

James

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2014, 12:02:17 PM »
I have replaced and installed new many times. Not a hard job, but not necessarily easy either. The sink won't break, and use plenty of plumber's putty like milspec said.

ritchie70

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2014, 12:34:11 PM »
Thanks, all. I just haven't messed with one of these mostly plastic sinks before and they look darn fragile. The whole house is kind of a piece of crap so I'm starting to just always expect the worst.

Unlike the "guess what tools I need" situation when fixing stuff at my mom-in-law's condo, this is in my house, so tons of tools are a mere flight of stairs away.

It might be another week before I get around to it, but I'll post an update when it's done.

Thanks again!

Spork

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2014, 02:44:19 PM »
Thanks, all. I just haven't messed with one of these mostly plastic sinks before and they look darn fragile. The whole house is kind of a piece of crap so I'm starting to just always expect the worst.


I am sure the vary ... they're usually made by hand.  But mine are extremely thick.  My parents have them that are at least 50 years old with no breakages.  I think you're more likely to have a corroded pipe or an old shut off valve break on  you.

ritchie70

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2014, 03:07:08 PM »
I am sure the vary ... they're usually made by hand.  But mine are extremely thick.  My parents have them that are at least 50 years old with no breakages.  I think you're more likely to have a corroded pipe or an old shut off valve break on  you.

Mine have surface cracking inside the bowls which is part of the source of my worry.

I have no intention of touching the shut off that hasn't been turned in decades, and aside from the piece that rusted out/broke off, the rest is either PVC or a fairly new looking plastic p-trap. Maybe I'll inspect the other three sinks (two bathrooms, two sinks each) and see how they look.

James

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2014, 04:29:22 PM »
I am sure the vary ... they're usually made by hand.  But mine are extremely thick.  My parents have them that are at least 50 years old with no breakages.  I think you're more likely to have a corroded pipe or an old shut off valve break on  you.

Mine have surface cracking inside the bowls which is part of the source of my worry.

I have no intention of touching the shut off that hasn't been turned in decades, and aside from the piece that rusted out/broke off, the rest is either PVC or a fairly new looking plastic p-trap. Maybe I'll inspect the other three sinks (two bathrooms, two sinks each) and see how they look.


I have cracking in my master bathroom sink also, but it's not structural. Looks like crap though... :D

phred

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2014, 09:18:38 AM »
There are two kinds of plastic sinks.  One looks like a heavy duty dishpan, and is more common in RVs and mobile homes.  The other is a cast acrylic (cultured marble) of maybe half inch to 3/4 inch think. 

I have seen the dishpan type split.  With the acrylic I have seen small radial cracks leading from the drain area.  I suspect this is from tightening the drain too tightly???

paddedhat

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2014, 12:03:25 PM »
  With the acrylic I have seen small radial cracks leading from the drain area.  I suspect this is from tightening the drain too tightly???

Nope, it's from excessively hot water. There is even a little factory warning label attached to it that tells you that you WILL get stress cracking at the drain if your water is too hot. Now this label is pretty much guaranteed to be long gone and I doubt that most folks have ever seen one. When I first started in the business there were two kinds of homes in our rural area. Those with oil hot water heating and blistering hot domestic water, and those with electric heat, typically set to a much more rational temp. I could typically tell which was which by looking at the cracked bathroom sinks. I used to warn my customers back then that if they crank up the hot water temp. the sinks are going to crack and it is not a warranty issue.

ritchie70

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Re: "man-made marble" sink - replace waste assembly
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2014, 09:28:08 PM »
Update... Got it out no problems except smacking myself in the face when a wrench slipped which gave me a split lip. Then I got a cold chisel and cut a washer out and accidentally realized I didn't even need to turn what I was trying to turn. Argh!

Looks like the only reason it wasn't leaking was 3 decades of crud. Got it cleaned up, the bleeding stopped, and putting it together tomorrow. I'm not allowed to work on stuff while our 2 year old is sleeping...

Sunday update... Got it put back together, no further injuries to myself and no leaks. Not 100% confident on the "no leaks" so there's a towel under it just to be safe - will take it out tomorrow if still dry and put the stuff back.

Learned not to squeeze pipes that have threads with vise grips, but got it squeezed back so I could thread them together.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2014, 12:57:32 PM by ritchie70 »