In today’s post, I’m going to share with you some lessons learned about changing a faucet on a pedestal sink. This project should’ve been much easier and frankly, I should have finished it much sooner than I planned, but I made a big rookie mistake. In this post, I’m going to share that mistake with you so you can be properly prepared for your next pedestal sink faucet upgrade.
Here’s what I would recommend.
Take the sink off the wall. This was my biggest mistake in this process. I wasted a lot of time trying to get a wrench behind the sink so I could keep the whole assembly intact. Don’t do that. I ended up buying a bunch of tools I didn’t really need and in the end, I decided to just take the sink off the wall anyway.
Once the sink was off the wall, I had full and easy access to the drain pipe jam nut and it took me about ten minutes to clean it up and install the new one. SO much easier than sitting on the floor trying to fit a bunch of wrenches behind the pedestal.
A basin wrench is a big help. Even though I was able to loosen and tighten the water line connections at the faucet, the basin wrench made this job easier. Basin wrenches aren’t that expensive and although they’re pretty much only useful for replacing faucets, it was worth it the $10 or $11 I spent on mine.
Use Caulk in All the Places. I added a thick bead of latex and silicone caulk on the bottom of the pedestal where it sits on the floor and at the top of the pedestal where the sink sits. This caulk will help keep the sink and pedestal in-place and prevent it from moving or rocking when someone touches it. Our kids are much more likely to put weight on the edge of the sink so the caulk will help keep the whole thing from moving.
Get the Grey Plumber’s Putty. Plumber’s putty is used as a gasket around the drain fitting. It comes in a beige color or a grey color. If you go with the grey, it will match your hardware better. The beige stuff tends to stand out more.
Source information. The sink is a Wetherly model from Moen. It doesn’t show fingerprints, so it’s perfect for families with kids. Our previous sink was also a Moen, but it was finished in chrome and showed marks every time someone touched it. The wall color is Versatile Gray from Sherwin Williams.
