Fitting a New Bathroom Sink
Don’t immediately call in a plumber if you need to replace your bathroom sink, it’s not as tricky as you might think and doing it yourself could save you quite a lot of money. Very useful if you’re watching your expenditure these days!
The first thing you need to do of course is to turn off the water supply. You may be able to isolate just the sink or you may have to turn off the water for the whole house. Turn the water off then turn on the taps to run out any water that is still in the system, and also to make sure you actually have turned the water off correctly. Obviously it’s much better to find this out now than after you’ve removed the basin!
Next you need to remove the sink from the wall. This should be a fairly easy task, you will usually need to remove sealant from around the sink, and unscrew brackets holding the sink to the wall, but the pedestal and basin should come away easily as their own weight will bring them away from the wall. If you will be reusing your current taps then remove these carefully first with an adjustable wrench before discarding the sink.
Unless your new sink is exactly the same size and shape as your old one then you may need to remove some of your bathroom wall tiles. While you have no sink in place, it’s a good opportunity to retile, or replace any broken bathroom wall tiles, or at the very least, give the wall a really good clean while it’s easily accessible.
The next task is to fit the new sink. Make sure it is level using a spirit level. Hopefully you should be able to fit your water and waste pipes straight in, but if the new sink is different from the old one and they don’t match up, then you can get flexible connector pipes to add in. Fit your old taps, or new ones according to the instructions given, and make sure all the connections are tight and that you have used all the supplied washers. If you are reusing old taps, now is a good time to replace old washers to save you having to take the taps apart again in the future to replace a worn washer. Next you need to attach the overflow to the waste pipe.
Depending on the type of sink you have bought, you may have some brackets to attach to the wall. Follow the instructions supplied with your sink. The last task will be to apply a waterproof sealant where the basin meets the wall, and tighten all the fittings.
The final task is to turn on the water and open the taps. Keep a good eye out for any leaks. It’s wise to check on the pipe work regularly for a few days as a small leak may not be immediately apparent.