Natalie Blanchard hated her old kitchen sink. It was corroded under the faucet and she sprayed herself every time she intended to spray the dishes. She asked Ron to help her replace her tired old sink with something shiny and new.
The new sink Natalie selected was actually a porcelain enamel, over a metal base. It is made with a composite material that gives the feel, the sound, and the dullness of a cast iron sink, but with a fraction of the weight, making installation much easier.
Click Here For a list of what
you will need in order to complete this project.
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1. Select replacement sink and faucet
The first step in a sink replacement project is to select the new sink and fixtures. Make sure that what you select will fit in the opening and that the faucet and fixtures selected will fit in the sink that you select.
2. Prepare to remove old sink
There are a lot of different items attached to an installed kitchen sink. In most cases, when you are replacing a sink, nearly everything goes, and it is easiest to pull it all out together. The garbage disposal, however, can often be reused and should be disconnected before the old sink is removed.
As a safety precaution, it is important to flip the circuit breaker to the disposal before disconnecting it. To locate the breaker, run the disposal and then flip switches until it goes off. Place a piece of tape across the breaker to prevent someone else from turning it back on while you are working.
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| Place a bowl under the sink plumbing and then disconnect the U-shaped pipe coming down from the disposal at both ends. (It may be necessary to use a wrench.)
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| Also, disconnect the dishwasher waste water pipe from the disposal. |
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| The disposal will need to be disconnected from the dishwasher and from the sink. To do that, you must locate the ring on the top of the garbage disposal. Place a screwdriver through one of the loops and apply pressure to rotate the ring until the disposal disconnects.
Shut off the hot and cold water valves under the sink. Finally, use a wrench to disconnect the pipes connecting to the sink.
After all of the plumbing is disconnected, the sink is still held in place by several clips that are attached to the underside of the countertop with screws. After unscrewing all of these, and the sink should be loose. |
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3. Remove old sink
Grab the faucet and lift it straight up. The whole sink should come with it.
4. Prepare new sink
It is much easier to connect all of the fixtures before installing the sink in the countertop. Begin by shaping plumber's putty into a long snakelike piece and then form the putty around the sink flange. |
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| Next, slide the flange through the hole in the sink. Slip on a fiber gasket, a backup ring and then a mounting ring.The snap ring holds everything in place and the entire assembly is tightened securely to the sink.
Use your fingers to remove the excess putty that will squish through when the assembly is tightened.
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5. Mount faucet
To mount the faucet, first set the trim plate on the sink deck then pass the faucet through. Next, turn the sink over, slip the mounting bracket into place and hand tighten the mounting nut.
Plumbing manufacturers often pack special wrenches with their products, which can make attachments much easier. Simply follow the instructions that come with the faucet to make the attachments.
With the faucet assembly in place, insert any optional accessories you might have purchased, including a sprayer hose, soap dispenser, etc. If you are going to use new water supply lines, it is best to install those to the sink at this time as well. |
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6. Silicone
The new sink can be glued into place with silicone. To keep the adhesive from oozing out onto the countertop, lay strips of masking tape around the opening. Put a healthy bead of silicone right up to the edge of the masked line.
Lift the sink carefully up and over the silicone and lower it into the hole.
Dip a finger in alcohol and draw it over the bead of silicone to smooth it out and blend it in. |
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7. Final attachments
Climb back under the sink and reattach the water lines to the valves. Next, replace the garbage disposal. This is much easier with two people, one to align the disposal and hold it in place while the other tightens the ring.
Reattach the lines from the dishwasher to the disposal. Finally, reattach the u-pipe, or p-trap and the sink should be ready to go.
Be certain to consult the directions so that you don't overlook any key steps. (Ron was supposed to flush out the water lines before attaching the pull-out spout and he inadvertently skipped that step. This caused the faucet to clog when it was turned on. Most of the debris in the water line got trapped in the screen washer, so they were able to simply rinse it out.)
The new sink was a beautiful (and functional) addition to Natalie's otherwise updated kitchen.
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