I am tiling a vanity countertop, and have a drop-in china sink. The instructions say to set it with "sealant" which I assume means caulk. Do I need anything else, such as adhesive, or are the plumbing connections enough to hold it in place?
Adhesive is insufficient. There should be some method for a mechanical connection to the countertop, typically clamping devices securing the sink from underneath.
on 8/11/2009 7:19 AM (ET) Perry Aynum wrote the following:
It's a china sink. It's heavy enough not to go anywhere with just the sealant.
Silicone caulk will do fine. It's not going to fall through being a 'drop in'. One that is attached from beneath would require physical attachment with screws and binders.
The last couple I've done came with a small tube of sealant that looked just like normal flexible tub caulk. I let it set up a few hours before I completed the plumbing, so it wouldn't shift around. The amount they sent me wasn't much, so I used tub caulk to make a smooth bead around the edge. The weight of the sink was more than sufficient to keep it in place. Much nicer looking than the ones with an aluminum rim, IMHO.
Yes, there's no way to physically attach it - it's just unglazed china underneath. I picked up a tube of DAP bathroom caulk/adhesive which seems like it will seal and help keep it seated.
'Should be' and 'is current common practice' are not always the same thing. The cheap builder-grade drop-ins I have seen lately have no doohickeys on the bottom to mate with the clamps. The ring of putty or caulk, and the downforce of the drain trap, are all that holds them in place. The one in my bathroom is sorta floating right now- I popped the caulk loose changing the trap, and never bothered to redo it.
Maybe somebody makes a gigantic C-shaped spring steel thing that you put the drain tail through, that presses up against bottom of counter?
-- aem sends...
Excellent idea, but I'm beginning to think there are ways, they're just secret!
I asked here about a year ago how to attach a sink given that all it had was an upside-down U-channel and nobody could figure out how to anchor the sink. But I found it.
Imagine a flat strip of metal that you bend into a U about 3/8" wide. Now take the upper legs of the U and fold them over inwards. Then weld the U thingy to the sink. That's what I had.
As it turns out...
The distance between the folded over strips would exactly permit the introduction of the head of an 8-32 machine bolt, its head held in place by the gap between the folded over parts and the bottom of the U.
Once that scheme was discovered, the rest was easy and consisted of a flat piece of metal with a hole for the bolt and a nut.
I can now heave large - even huge - bits of food into the sink without a care whether the sink will move. Heck, I can toss in a whole critter!
"Perry Aynum" wrote in news:M0jgm.78969$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe20.iad:
I would have gone with one of the 100% silicone products. Silicone is used for assembling fish tanks BTW. But if it's already in with the DAP, leave it and address if it fails.
If you ever use silicone, even with a brand new tube, open it and put a glob on scrap. It should skin in 30min. If it hasn't skinned in 45-60 minutes it's no good and will never dry properly if at all. Many have been burned by not doing this including yours truly.
the caulk and gravity are all you need.
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All I use is silicone seal/caulk around the underside as a glue and then the usual wiped bead all around the outside exposed edge to seal out water and hide any gap. Seems to work fine for me.
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