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I replaced a sink stopper assembly in a bathroom in my house because the stopper didn't work anymore and was clogged up. The previous one was a plastic body and I thought that I should replace with something higher quality, so I bought this metal one (almost this exact one).

New sink stopper assembly

The issue is that I can't really get to the ~2" nut shown just above the threads on the image above. I have tried many different approaches, but I can't access it with anything other than my hand, and using my hand I can't get enough torque on it to stop the drain from leaking.

The leak is at the arrow here, the nut is shown marked by the circle, and the joint between the basin and the pedestal is marked with the X.

Actual pic of my sink

I bought this wrench but the handle is too long to access the nut.

I bought this wrench, it is too long in the handle

I bought this wrench, it's just the right shape, great design, but it is too wide mouthed.

Standard tool wrench

This wrench is not strong or large enough to get sufficient torque on the nut.

basin wrench

Something like this would be great, but I can't find anything online like it (just the pic to a dead link).

Nut adapter

So here's my options, please give me your opinions on pros/cons of these

  1. Exchange the metal insert piece with a plastic one where I can use a basin wrench, admit defeat and stop trying to fix my own stuff. I like the new Kohler one, it looks nice, but I might not be able to spend a ton of time on this.
  2. Pull off the pedestal (supporting the basin) to access the nut with ChannelLocks
  3. Your ideas??

Thanks in advance! Also I would very much appreciate if someone could help with sizing some of those images down a bit, I don't see sizing options in the help section.

Rajan

PS Here's pics of the nut I'm trying to torque down Thread diameter Torque face measurement

rajan
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  • hold the wrench at about 45 dgr – asinine Aug 03 '23 at 16:20
  • No dice. Can't fit any useful wrench at any angle. – rajan Aug 03 '23 at 16:35
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    Removing the pedestal is probably the best way forward. If installed correctly, the sink has two huge lag screws that adhere to the wall. *If*. It should be able float there while you work underneath. Another approach is to remove the p-trap, and then unscrew the standing pipe, or you can work the basin nut and the standing pipe together to sinch it down. Check the package insert to make sure you have all the components there. I believe there's a cardboard gasket which is, surprisingly, integral to making a watertight seal. – AdamO Aug 03 '23 at 16:43
  • May I ask where you bought this assembly from? I have a similar Kohler sink except my children screwed off the gnurled end nut from the pop up assembly and I can't find a replacement. The diameter is like 0.75" – AdamO Aug 03 '23 at 16:45
  • The wrench in the 5th picture is a basin wrench. It's hard to tell from the picture, but you may have trouble either gaining purchase, or manipulating it enough to turn. – AdamO Aug 03 '23 at 16:57
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    For a mickey mouse method (thus not a votable answer!), use a center punch and hammer on the right side of any flat of the nut that you can access. The nut will turn. If the mark that you create gets too deep and you fear damage to the nut, switch to a flat-faced drift. Alternatively, if it's not too late and you can still remove the nut without too much trouble, file or grind a V into the nut on both sides of each apex (12 total V's) and use a long but dull chisel and hammer, or even a hammer and a 1/2" steel rod with a flat end for greater reach. – MTA Aug 03 '23 at 17:13
  • I like the remote hammer method (although I'll have to make sure to make grips on both sides of the nut face to enable removal as well). Hopefully the pedestal removal option is easy enough, but TBD. I bought the insert at Fratallone's Hardware in St Paul MN. They can probably give you a SKU if you ask them for details on the "$39.99 insert". If I am in the store again I'll snap a pic of the bar code. OK unless anyone else has ideas on torqueing the nut down that don't involve removing the pedestal that's the path I'm on. I tried removing the full plumbing stack underneath and still no – rajan Aug 03 '23 at 17:25
  • The search therm would be `flexible head ratchet wrench` – asinine Aug 03 '23 at 17:33
  • @AdamO I just added pics of the nut and pipe in case you'd like to try to replace yours. – rajan Aug 03 '23 at 17:54
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    Long-term, I've seen far more problems from metal drains corroding than I have with plastic drains being "cheap" - YMMV. The perception of *higher price = higher quality* may or may not pan out for you. – Ecnerwal Aug 03 '23 at 18:00

2 Answers2

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I looked at the basin mount to the wall and none of the lag bolts were installed, so I would have had to build a frame to hold the basin.

I ended up using the dumbest wrench I've ever used. Yes, it's made out of [furniture-grade] wood. I thought of it based on the posts here, so your help is very appreciated!

Homemade wooden wrench

It's not a perfect tool, I might make another one with a jigsaw instead because the compound mitre saw I used turned out to be hard to make a straight cut. I had to flip the wood over, and I'm at 41mm instead of 40mm. But for now the leak is gone and the family is able to use the sink again!

rajan
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I think the only possibility to tighten this nut, with the basin in place, would be an strap wrench.enter image description here You could also improvise one by using a piece of sturdy strap and a ring wrench.

enter image description here

Martin
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