Sink Drain Lesson

I took time off from my day job as Internet Philosopher to attack my kitchen sink leak. The sink was installed by Home Depot not many years ago. What do I know about fixing sink drains? I’m an Internet Philosopher, not a plumber. But I went at it anyway.

First, I removed the pipe connected to the sink drain (which I soon learned was called a sink basket.) There was a honkin’ big locknut on the bottom side holding the sink basket in place. I intended to remove the sink basket, put plumber’s putty on the underside of its rim, and re-install the sink basket. I spent a good 15 minutes trying to remove the locknut with a hammer and screwdriver, tapping at the tabs on the locknut, before I realized there had to be a better way. And I was right. A trip to Home Depot’s plumbing section revealed these two items.

This handy gadget is called a Basket Strainer Locknut Wrench. It’s adjustable to fit different size sink baskets. It fits onto the little tabs on the locknut and gives you plenty of leverage to turn the locknut.

But what happens if you turn the locknut and the sink basket turns with it?

That’s where this next handy gadget comes in.

This is called a Basket Strainer Wrench. It fits into the sink basket strainer (the opening through which water runs out of your kitchen sink). Using this tool, you can keep the sink basket from turning as you turn the locknut.

I also believe I found why the sink was leaking around the drain. The douchebag gentleman who installed the sink left out one important component: a thin, cardboard washer.

During installation, the sink basket gets a bead of plumber’s putty under its rim and is placed in the sink drain opening. Below the sink, a rubber washer goes onto the basket, followed by a cardboard washer, then a locknut. The rubber washer seals the drain to prevent leaks. The locknut holds the basket in place and, by squeezing the rubber washer tightly against the bottom of the sink, prevents water from leaking out. The cardboard washer, which looks quite unimportant, goes between the rubber washer and the locknut, and it’s smooth surface allows the installer to tighten the locknut tighter. Without the cardboard washer, the locknut would have to be tightened against the rubber washer, which would be much harder to do. Rubber offers more resistance to something sliding against it than does slick cardboard. So from the beginning the locknut was never tight enough. The sink drain was watertight for a while, until one day it wasn’t – because the installer threw out the cardboard washer. It’s the “I’ve-been-doing-this-for-twenty-years” mentality. (See The Electrician.) It’s the kind of mistake that, in different circumstances, might bring down an airliner. “Oh look, a leftover part. It must not be important.”

I hope we’ve all learned something from this.