Belfast kitchen sink strainer replacement

[David J Williams]

Hi
My wife whilst cleaning the sink this morning managed to remove the top off the strainer which had a badly corroded screw section holding it in. I have managed to get another strainer but it is a bit shallower than the other one so I will need to purchase another trap set to reassemble. The recess in the sink had been quite heavily filled with silicon which I have now removed. I am at this stage unsure of whether to do this also. I have replaced sink strainers in the past but only on metallic sinks and have just relied on the seals to make it watertight. Do ceramic sinks need extra help to seal. I have some plumbers Mait but have never found a use for it yet but have seen some American Youtube videos where they seem very keen on the stuff

 

[Burnerman]

I use a good squidge of silicone on these, and on occasion have had to buy a longer slotted screw as the ceramic was too thick for the standard one that came with the new strainer.
John

 

[David J Williams]

Hi
Thanks for the reply. Do you silicon the void from above and leave both top and bottom seals in situ?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Do ceramic sinks need extra help to seal. I have some plumbers Mait but have never found a use for it yet but have seen some American Youtube videos where they seem very keen on the stuff

A brilliant none setting sealant, it's the one thing which worked for me a few years ago. Roll it into a thing sausage, long enough to go round, then push it to place on the clean dry sealing surfaces, so it oozes out as you tighten.

 

[David J Williams]

I think that I have sorted this now(fingers crossed) I inserted the strainer in the sink recess several times as the hole is fairly big and there was not a lot of seal to sit around the ledge. I used plumbers mait on the top but unscrewed the strainer as the bottom seal was going a bit scew. I stuck the bottom seal on with a bead of silicon and then put another bead on the other face. I have been checking it and so far no leaks. I think the tolerances are poor on ceramics and if your lucky you will get one that is just right. I had a similar problem with a ceramic cystern a while back and there was very little of the seal sitting around the edge. I had to ensure it was dead in the centre before tightening up. it took several attempts