Basin Waste Leaking

[Alfie25]

Firstly, let me say I'm a novice when it comes to all this. I recently moved house and am having no end of problems. I noticed dripping from under my bathroom basin - around the plughole. I managed to remove the metal unit from the basin but it doesn't help that the basin is mounted on a wooden stand. Pics added.

Anyway, the metal unit itself is heavily covered in what I'm guessing is plumbers mait, which was also blocking the overflow holes. It would appear that water is getting in between the hole in the basin unit and the metal unit itself, despite all this plumbers mait.

There was no washer on the top of the unit, just a plastic washer and metal nut underneath. So... what is the best way of sealing it?
Can you get new washers for the top of the unit?
Should I buy a basin mate for the bottom? - Does this also include a washer for the top?
And I'm keen not to have to remove the sink from the wooden unit, as this would involve undoing compression joints on the taps etc. But as you can see in pic 3, access is tight for tightening up the nut because you obviously can't get directly to teh base of the basin as there's the thickness of the wooden unit in the way! Other than long nose pliers, what other tools could I use to tighten it all back together?

Thanks guys.

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• Alfie25
• 17 Jul 2012
• 1

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• Alfie25
• 17 Jul 2012
• 1

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• Alfie25
• 17 Jul 2012
• 1

 

[scoobydo123]

Get a basin mate seal. These never seem to fail stopping leaks. Only a couple of quid as well. No gunge is required either which is a bonus

 

[Terry7556]

i thought about the basin mate (£1.17 toolstation last week) but not 100% sure looking at the third photo

 

[Alfie25]

I bought a basin mate but it wouldn't fit with the current arrangement. Even if I took the basin off the pedestal (which it looks like I'm going to have to do anyway), the rubber cone and plastic ring are too big for the pre-cut hole in the wooden pedestal. Suppose I could jigsaw the hole a bit wider to accommodate it? But it looks like I'll have to go down the gunge route

 

[TicklyT]

Remove the basin and flip it upside down so you've got the elbow room you need to re-fit the waste properly with a Basin-mate, then get jiggy with your jigsaw. Those units are usually supplied without any cutouts. the holes were probably made by the installer with whatever hole saw he had to hand at the time.

The compression fittings on the hot and cold supplies are usually tolerant of dismantling and re-fitting a few times. Some swear by putting a small smear of sealant around the pipe olives on reassembly, but I've rarely, if ever, had any problems re-assembling them 'dry'

 

[Alfie25]

Remove the basin and flip it upside down so you've got the elbow room you need to re-fit the waste properly with a Basin-mate, then get jiggy with your jigsaw. Those units are usually supplied without any cutouts. the holes were probably made by the installer with whatever hole saw he had to hand at the time.

The compression fittings on the hot and cold supplies are usually tolerant of dismantling and re-fitting a few times. Some swear by putting a small smear of sealant around the pipe olives on reassembly, but I've rarely, if ever, had any problems re-assembling them 'dry'

Cheers. There's copper pipes coming off the taps then down a hole through to the flexible hoses, then from there to isolation valve. It's strange to see copper pipes coming off the taps in this arrangement - is this normal? I would have expected to see flexible hose going all the way up to the tap.

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• Alfie25
• 17 Jul 2012
• 2