plumber putty went bad
 

while the cat is away the mice are playing. i.e.
the leaky sink got torn apart and the old piece
of crap faucet is gone.

perhaps i should have looked first as i went
shopping for a replacement i ended up at all the
big box stores and they had little in white that
looked decent and i knew the cat would like. she
must have white.

the sink traps were also really bad and i replaced
those too, except while taking them out (thank goodness
for my dremel tool as in both the sink and the traps
were plugged with corrosion and goop as to be unmovable
by hand turning or even hitting with a screw driver
and hammer -- don't tell me how i should have gotten
those puppies loose as all three weren't moving or
were turning the whole thing when i could grip them
with the largest wrench). anyways, the putty was turned
into crumbly gunk and obviously was not working well
any longer.

i suspect the cleaning chemicals used to get rid of
the rust in the sink turned the putty into the crumbly
mess.

the new traps look great, the new faucet also looks
very nice (my camera is broken or i'd post peectures), but
the question is what can i use to clean the rust from
the sinks that won't do in the sink traps (stainless
steel now - the ones before were not) or degrade the
plumber putty? the cat must have white sinks. (we have
some rust in the water, but it doesn't bother me, but
i sure would not have white fixtures. the cat likes
white and it must stay white.) we've used the usual
cleaners (seems like the works are about all that do
the job, but i'd like to find something else that does
the job and doesn't destroy things in the process).

on the plus side, the sink traps i put in were pretty
easy to do and the faucet wasn't that bad either. by far
the worst was getting the plastic or metal screws to come
off (thus the dremel with a cutting wheel :) ) and
cleaning the rust and gunk off (steel wool, chisel blade,
baking soda, etc.). before i resorted to the dremel i
tried a utility knife to cut the plastic screw and of
course managed to stick it in my thumb instead. it's not
that i go out of my way to do things like this, but it
seems they all want a bit of blood, skinned knuckles,
smashed fingers or whatever to compensate the Ghods of
Projecta or something...

i'm not sure the cat will like this new faucet, but it
was the only one i could find that was even close to
acceptable. at a hardware store kitty corner from the
big box Menard's. price was less than what could have
been an alternative at Mendards/Lowes, but they all
carried by far the same sort of stuff (and almost nothing
in white) and had the same prices.

well if you've read this far, you're pretty die hard. :)
thanks for any comments, suggestions, etc.


songbird

plumber putty went bad
 

On 05/18/2015 07:20 PM, songbird wrote:



portions snipped
perhaps i should have looked first as i went
shopping for a replacement i ended up at all the
big box stores and they had little in white that
looked decent and i knew the cat would like. she
must have white.


OK makes sense

r
and hammer -- don't tell me how i should have gotten
those puppies loose as all three weren't moving or

Puppies?


what about the cat?

plumber putty went bad
 

philo wrote:
songbird wrote:


portions snipped
perhaps i should have looked first as i went
shopping for a replacement i ended up at all the
big box stores and they had little in white that
looked decent and i knew the cat would like. she
must have white.


OK makes sense

r
and hammer -- don't tell me how i should have gotten
those puppies loose as all three weren't moving or

Puppies?

plastic nuts holding the faucet on the sink.
metal bands holding the sink traps.

the old faucet was corroded and rusting on
the inside when i took it off the sink. as there
was getting some rust staining around the base of
the faucet i was getting worried the cast iron
sink itself was coming apart. the enamel finish
has chipped in several places, but it overall
still looks nice enough that i'm not going to do
anything else to it. it's been redone for now
(hoping nothing leaks, looks good so far...).


what about the cat?


still away. :) i play again tomorrow... hand rail,
should be an easy one, then if i feel like it i have
a clothes rack we use for drying that needs some
varnish on it. otherwise gardening or puttering around
....


songbird

plumber putty went bad
 

On 05/18/2015 08:22 PM, songbird wrote:


the old faucet was corroded and rusting on
the inside when i took it off the sink. as there
was getting some rust staining around the base of
the faucet i was getting worried the cast iron
sink itself was coming apart. the enamel finish
has chipped in several places, but it overall
still looks nice enough that i'm not going to do
anything else to it. it's been redone for now
(hoping nothing leaks, looks good so far...).


what about the cat?


still away. :) i play again tomorrow... hand rail,
should be an easy one, then if i feel like it i have
a clothes rack we use for drying that needs some
varnish on it. otherwise gardening or puttering around
...


songbird




My wife and I have two cats, one was feral and born in the back yard.

He sure seems to be good at catching mice.


He does not care what color the faucet on the sink is