kitchen sink leaking into cabinet floor

[e90ca]

My tenant just informed me that there is water leaking under the kitchen sink into the bottom of the cabinet. It's not coming from the dishwasher or hoses under the sink. It's only leaking when the water is turned on. Garbage disposal works fine also.

I'm hoping that I can just apply some water proof caulking along the edges of where the disposal connects to the bottom of the sink hole and this will take care of the problem.

Does anyone think this is ok to do, or is there more work that needs to be done to repair this?

Thanks in advance!

[CollinsE90]

You have xray vision? How'd you see through your woman to find the leak?

[1sikbmr]

do you know where it is leaking from? if yes what does it look like a tube with a hole or just a sealing issue...

[e90ca]

Originally Posted by 1sikbmr

do you know where it is leaking from? if yes what does it look like a tube with a hole or just a sealing issue...

Just asked my tenant, and he said the water is not coming from any of the hoses. When he turns on the water, the leak is coming from directly under the kitchen sink hole area, the part where the disposal is connected.

Could it be the surrounding area which may not be a tight seal that causing the leak? if so, can i use caulking, or something called plumbers putty?

[1sikbmr]

Originally Posted by e90ca

Just asked my tenant, and he said the water is not coming from any of the hoses. When he turns on the water, the leak is coming from directly under the kitchen sink hole area, the part where the disposal is connected.

Could it be the surrounding area which may not be a tight seal that causing the leak? if so, can i use caulking, or something called plumbers putty?

if it is just a small leak then plumbers putty should do the trick...

[Tondtar]

Sounds like you need to call on one of these guys

[GT3 Tim]

It is probably leaking form the drain flange. I just fixed the same thing at my bro-in-laws rental.

You can't caulk it.

You need to remove disposal...pull up pants so ass-crack is not showing.
Remove flange nut under sink (attached to bottom of "drain" -- the big silver thing in the sink)
Pull out drain flange.
Clean off all old cracked putty.
Get plumbers putty and roll into joint sized peices in a circle around "hole"
Apply to SINK about 1/4" from "hole" in sink.
Put drain flange back in and push down. Putty will ooze out.
Reinstall flange nut and tighten (use a big ass screwdriver, etc. to hold drain flange so it doesn's spin).
Reinstall disposal.
Done.

Should take you no more than 30 minutes, even being a noob to it.

I've done this about 10 times at various houses/rentals. If in doubt, just go to the hardware store and inquire....they will be able to tell you how to fix it. Just look for an old-timer.

Hope this helps....

There is no "easy fix". You need to do it right.

[NYCGarbagePrince]

Originally Posted by GT3 Tim

You need to remove disposal...pull up pants so ass-crack is not showing.

[Feyd]

Yeah man... you gotta use the putty.


Keep tightening the displosal until you see putty oozing out around the entire peremeter of the flange.

Wipe off excess. Tell tennant not to use that side of the sink until the next day to give the putty some time to set up a bit.


**Also, buy/bring some rubber gloves, since it's not a new disposal... that shit will be nasty.


God bless the internet. LOL.

[e90ca]

Thanks GT3 Tim and Feyd!

This looks exactly like the problem. I remembered seeing the putty was starting to crack into small pieces when I used to live there.

Looks pretty simple to do from watching the video. I'm going to fix it today and I'll let you know how it goes.

[Gavin@MMW]

Originally Posted by e90ca

Just asked my tenant, and he said the water is not coming from any of the hoses. When he turns on the water, the leak is coming from directly under the kitchen sink hole area, the part where the disposal is connected.

Could it be the surrounding area which may not be a tight seal that causing the leak? if so, can i use caulking, or something called plumbers putty?

If its an older unit, the grommet that seals the disposal to the sink is probably rotted out and needs to be replaced. You would need to drop the disposal out and replace the grommet, then reinstall.

So its about 15-20 min job if you have the 5$ part from Home Depot

[e90ca]

Originally Posted by Craven 328

If its an older unit, the grommet that seals the disposal to the sink is probably rotted out and needs to be replaced. You would need to drop the disposal out and replace the grommet, then reinstall.

So its about 15-20 min job if you have the 5$ part from Home Depot

is the "grommett" the black rubber piece that fits on top of the disposal, which the guy took off during the video? or is it something else?

[Gavin@MMW]

Yes it is, Sorry i responded before reading the entire post, I didnt see the video lol

[e90ca]

I went to the condo to discover that it wasn't the sink drain flange that was the leaking problem. It turned out that the cold water hose from leaking instead.

Went to lowes to see if I could just replace the hose itself only. The guy suggested me to just replace the entire faucet instead since a new faucet package would come with brand new hoses and pieces. This faucet must be at least 15-20 yrs old in terms of the life of the condo, so I guess it's time to just replace the whole thing at this time.

I appreciate all the replies on this forum and for all your help!

[UncleWede]

You still could use some plumbers putty for the faucet install. And CLEAN THE SHIT before you install the new one, you'll get a better seal.

[jpsum]

i bet he had the problem fixed by now....

And he probably wasn't going to order a faucet from a UK company either.

[solefald]

lol. i like how a leaking sink resulted in a whole forum thread. sinks are rather simple devices....

[solefald]

Originally Posted by jpsum

i bet he had the problem fixed by now....

oh shit. just noticed the date of the post. hahaha