Does this faucet need replacing?

October 21, 2015 8:21 PM

Side by side sinks, seen here, and one has a metal bar rusted out. The rusted one is now loose, as a unit (taps, faucet), but still seems to work. No obvious leak, but something caused the rust, right? Where the lines attach to the faucet seem tight. What needs to be done?
posted by rux to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Best answer: Condensation can bead on cold water pipes and that could have rusted-stained the sink but I'd guess that water is occasionally seeping down under the fixture. Unless you see evidence of dripping below it, I'd just smear a bead of silicone around the base of the fixture and watch it for a few months. The tap could be leaking inside, but I'd want to be sure that's what it was before doing more about it.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:49 PM on October 21, 2015

Best answer: The mounting bar at the top is what clamps the fixture tight to the sink. It appears that yours was not tightened properly which allows the fixture to slide around. Because it was loose, it allowed splashed water from the sink to leak under the faucets which caused the rusting.

Do you know the manufacturer and model number of the fixture? It kind of looks like this one from Moen. You can see the mounting bracket in this picture.

Here is one example of the mounting hardware but impossible to be sure with knowing the make and model.

So it isn't a critical failure, but it means that the fixture will be loose and that splashed water can leak from the top side of the sink to underneath.
posted by JackFlash at 11:25 PM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Jack Flash has it. The faucet wasn't clamped tight or sealed properly to the sink, so moisture splashed onto the deck on top can get under the faucet and drip through. The initial problem might have been that it wasn't tightened properly, or that the seal between the faucet and the sink deck (which could've been either plumbers' putty or a rubber gasket) was installed improperly or not installed at all. If the fasteners used to tighten the faucet in place are still functional then you can fix the seal between faucet and deck, tighten the faucet properly in place, and it will be fine. If the fasteners are so badly rusted that they can't be turned, or if they break off when you try to turn them, then you might have to replace the whole shebang. Leaving it alone is a bad idea because water dripping through the sink deck will eventually ruin the cabinet below and make bigger headaches.
posted by jon1270 at 6:11 AM on October 22, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks, will see what can be done about sealing things back up
posted by rux at 10:27 PM on October 23, 2015

It's worth mentioning that you should be careful not to overtighten the mounting hardware. It's possible to crack the sink with too much force.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:27 PM on October 24, 2015