Sink wastes question

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I've only replaced two sink wastes in my life - one in an old sink I wanted to re-use, and one in a new. I found that in both cases, the hole in the bottom of the sink wasn't exactly round (with a gap to the left and right), which seems odd, since it's meant to take something that obviously is round. I know you can get foam rings, or fill the gap with silicone or something, but the gap in the new sink was what I'd call huge - much too big for a foam ring. So, I have to ask, am I supposed to be buying special wastes that match the sink? It just seems strange that they don't design it with a perfectly round hole in the first place.

[Martin Bonner]

I think the answer is that it's made out of wet clay, and the hole distorts before or during firing. Nobody cares because the waste seal will cover the hole.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I hadn't thought of that. The hole in my new sink was so elliptical that the waste was moving from one side to the other as I was tightening it, pushing out all the stuff I'd put on to seal it. The only way I could get it central was to push cocktail sticks into the gaps on either side. Maybe I was doing the whole thing completely wrong?

[John Rumm]

Normally the waste seals on the *underside* of the sink. They should have a large rubber washer, that you can bed on with silicone etc. That way the sink can have built in overflow etc that drains just under the main outlet. The top of the outlet is normally fairly thin bit of stainless that will deform to the shape of the hole when tightened.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

The top of mine was rather thick (maybe 2mm), and I didn't want to risk trying to deform it - it would surely have cracked the glaze. I did take care to seal the underside with one of those conical rubber things. But when I tried to use just the foam washer at the top end (the supplied washer was nowhere near thick enough), the sink emptied in about a minute, and the foam thing was squeezed out and worked its way down into the hole within a few days.

I think I'll look for one that looks like it will deform into the hole nicely. The one I got was supplied with the sink, and I'd assumed they'd (Victoria Plumb) checked the compatibility. Maybe Victoria Plumb are not considered by those in the know to be a supplier of repute? They certainly know how to do marketing. Nearly every site I visit nowadays asks me if I want to buy the sink I already have :-)

[Chris French]

In message , Etaoin Shrdlu writes

It's probably deigned for a sink waste bigger than 'standard' - you can get them with strainer baskets etc. which are a larger diameter

eg.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Good idea, but it's not one of those (I put one in the kitchen a few months ago, and now we find that the strainer just needs emptying all the time). It's for a ceramic bathroom sink. I should have mentioned that.

[bert]

Wouldn't cross the road to p*** on them if they were on fire

[The Medway Handyman]

Plumbers Mait is the answer.