Sink/pedestal fit?

[A.Lee]

I'm in the process of fitting a new bathroom, and went to fit the sink today, and found that it wouldnt sit flat on the pedestal. It is made by Armitage Shanks, so not a particularly cheap suite.

I'm going to the shop at 9am tomorrow to see what they have to say, but my view is that there has been a mix up either in what they have delivered, or maybe they were not aware that they are different.

Now, the sink and pedestal should be a good fit shoudnt they? I.E. no wobbling when they are sat together on a level surface.

This one has 2 ridges on the sink, upon which they sit on the pedestal edge - it looks like the pedestal should be half an inch wider, so it sits either side of the ridges. Any thoughts? Thanks Alan.

[edalerichard]

I've never had one thats a clean fit. Plumbers mait or silicone is the answer

[Arthur2]

I bought a cheap suite a few years ago. The ridge on the underside of the basin should fit around the pedestal I think. The problem I had with it was that the pedestal didn't stand vertical. So for a while I had a half inch timber wedge to enable it to stand vertical. The maker of the suite was Esmaltal.

Arthur

[The Natural Philosopher]

welcome to the world of shrinking wet clay, indifferent firing, inconstant glaze thickness, and Armitage Shanks.

Haha. I went to the BM and they said 'we have 25 in there, find the one that looks the most square (corner basin).

Should and reality are only the same in your dreams.

Bed it down on a shitload of slicon, or get one CNC machined to ten thou made out of solid granite, or coriam. Shouldn't cost you much over 5 grand..

It MIGHT be the wrong part certainly, but even if it is, do not expect the right part to fit very well either.

China is china.

It starts wet, shrinks, theh its fired, which menas it gets nearly white hot. Then its glazed at yellow hot.

If it were metal it would be a pool in the kiln floor. As its china, it comes out more or less the intended shape, +- 1/4"...

[David W.E. Roberts]

I think that the pedestal is not intended to be the main support of the sink - it is there to conceal the pipes.

The sink I have fixes to the wall by some seriously large bolts (the previous one I did was not as good - used screws and wall plugs).

As far as I can see you fix the sink to the wall, then slip in the pedestal and then seal any gaps with white silicone to make it look pretty.

Given that it is not supporting the sink, wobble should not be an issue.

HTH

Dave R

[A.Lee]

Well , I took it back, and was told it was quite normal for them to not fit. Few of them fit out of the box apparently. He said the usual way is to bed both the bottom and top of the pedestal with putty, and add putty until the basin sits level on it.If the gap is too large, you get some wedges to hold it up, and pack it with putty.Silicone is too soft, and compresses too easily to use it there. I still think the one we had was either the wrong one, or such a bad fit that it should have been rejected. So I bedded it with the putty he gave me, and although reasonably level, it is not on the centre of the pedestal, which isnt really a problem, unless you are a perfectionist. I'm not too sure that the weight of the basin can be held by the screws near the bottom - the basin wall thickness is less then 10mm there, with

25mm of body around it. It does need the pedestal to support it (well, this one does), then the screws are added to make sure it doesnt move once seated on the putty. There are also 2 screw holes at the pedestal base, for which you need to be a contortionist to get screws into. Alan.

[John]

I tend to agree about the wall fixing - I think they are to prevent the basin being pulled from the wall - the weight should be taken by the pedestal. China isn't strong in shear.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I agree. But silicone IS strong enough for this job.

Screw the pedestal to the floor, using packing to get it vertical, and inject the gap there with clear or white silicone.

Then rest the basin on it and get it to fit as best as can be done, and mark out wall fixings sing a level to get it as good as yiu can.

Drill for those, and then loosely screw the basin to the all and wedge a matchstick under the basin pedestal join so there is a gap all round,. and full that with silicone too.

Wait 24 hours, remove matchstick and fill hole with more slicone. Use a scalpel to cut any excess silicone out, tighten wall screws and the jobs a good un.

The basin will be SLIGHTLY flexible on the silicone. but that's no problem really.

Now seal the basin to the wall with silicone and tile up to it. Leastways thats MY favorite, beacause it conceals the silicone seal there and the ragged edge where the basin doesn't meet the wall perfectly: If however you are tiling the whole wall below the basin as well, tile that before anything else, and accept the silicone-to-wall join being visible.