Adventures in sink replacement.

I mentioned in an earlier post that our bathroom sink was cracked and needed to be replaced. I worked most of the weekend on the damn thing.

This is something that we have needed to do for over a year. I know nothing about plumbing so I would be learning as I went.

We have a pedestal sink like the one below:



The sink rests on the pedestal and is attached to the wall with two brackets and two anchor screws so it doesn't wobble.

I went to Home Depot and purchased what looked like the exact same sink. I knew it wasn't exactly the same but didn't think it was that big of deal.

I closed the valves on the source pipes and detached the hoses that link them to the sink knobs. I removed the anchor screws. I pulled the pedestal out from the wall a little bit, detached the drain from the drain pipe, and pulled out the sink.

Lots of water was dripping. Lots of paper towels were used.

I went to work removing the faucet and drain-thingie from the old sink and put them in the new sink. Now I know how that lever thing that lifts and closes the drain works. Cool. It's really hard to use a wrench and pliers while simultaneously holding a 30 lb. porcelain bowl in your lap, but I did just fine.

I got the faucet and drain-thingie successfully installed into the new sink and Ms. Brick helped me mount it back on the wall.

Nope.

The brackets were too high so the sink was just kind of hovering over the pedestal, and the holes for the anchor screws didn't line up. Now I would have to re-mount the brackets an inch lower and drill new holes in the wall for the anchor screws. Damn, this wouldn't be as easy as I thought.

We took the sink off the wall and I measured and started drilling the holes. I got the first bracket mounted but I think drilling through tile dulled the bit a lot. Drilling for the second bracket was more difficult. I was pressing hard on the drill and snapped the bit.

Back to Home Depot for drill bits!

I bought three of the size I needed. I got Dewalt titaniums. This is not the first case of a drill bit snapping in our house. There is half a bit embedded in one of our window frames from when I was installing blinds.

I got the second bracket mounted, drilled new holes for the anchor screws, and went to install the sink. Everything was fine except...the drain in the new sink didn't line up with the drain pipe, because the drain in the new sink was about an inch closer to the wall. There was no way for me to connect it. This was a problem that could not be remedied without custom, expensive, plumbing work.

I left the new sink and played poker for five hours.

The next day we decided that the new sink wouldn't work and we should try to find the exact same model of the old sink. In the meantime we would need a sink. This meant putting the old one back.

So I took the new sink off the wall, and moved the faucet and drain-thingie back to the old sink. I re-mounted the brackets back to their original location. I put the old sink back, hooked up all the hoses and the drain pipe, and inserted the anchor screws. It would seem everything was back to normal.

But...

The drain was now leaking onto the floor underneath the sink. It would seem I didn't tighten the drain-thingie properly. The position of the pedestal makes it impossible to tighten it while the sink is mounted.

So I removed the anchor screws, unhooked the hoses and drain, and removed the sink once again. Please keep in mind that every time I do this water drips every where. I took the drain attachment off, wiped off the water, and very carefully and deliberately tightened it back on.

Now we have a bathroom sink that's cracked and needs to be replaced.

I was a bit saddened at the amount of joy I felt at this moment, seeing as I could have had the exact same result and done nothing.

Such is life sometimes.

At least now I know how to install faucets and drain-thingies.