My wife discovered a leak under the kitchen sink. Upon investigation, I discovered that water was getting under the sprayer. The washers in the faucet were ready for replacement, and the gasket between the faucet plate and the sink was shot. So I decided to install a newer faucet.
On the advice of a friend builder, we bought a Delta. The model is 400, I think. Installing it was pretty easy, but after I finished, I noticed that the faucet is not rigidly secured to the sink. There front and back edges of the plate are not touching the sink as if the sink is warped. The nuts on the underside of the faucet are as tight as I can get them without breaking them.
Before I put the faucet in place, I ran a line of silicone around it. While the silicone will help prevent water from leaking down under the faucet, there is no way that it will add any dimensional stability.
Other than plumbers putty, how can I stabilize the faucet? If I use plumbers putty, do I remove the gasket material under the plate? Is there a flat, three-hole plate that I can get to go UNDER the sink to add strength to the face of the edge of the sink? Buying a new sink is not in the plans, at the moment.
As a side note, I was pretty disappointed in the flimsiness of this Delta faucet. It's definitely not made of the same robust material as the 20 year old one that I took out. Should I consider returning it and getting something different, or all they all cheaply made now?