wbnethery3
Member
Hey guys,
We have a 12-year-old house that has Moen Kingsley and Monticello 2-handle sink faucets installed throughout. I just recently noticed that the assembly was loose at my sink in the master bath, and investigated to see how hard it would be to tighten it back up. I was shocked to find that the backing plate which holds the valve body to the counter top was almost completely rusted away. When I looked at my wife's sink, the plate is also very rusty. The valve bodies appear to be made of brass, but the backing plates are obviously plain steel.
We have lived in the house since it was built, and the issue with the sinks has gone undetected until now. In hindsight, we've seen evidence that I should have been more careful to investigate (occasional drips of water or rust at the back of the cabinet under the sinks). The builder did not apply any sealant around the base of the handles or faucet where they sit on the counter. As a result, water which pools around them will slowly but surely seep down and cause the damage I've discovered. My questions are:
- is application of a sealant normal for these types of faucet? I've done a kitchen sink installation that called for it, but the Moen instructions (or should I say pictograms since there aren't any words) don't illustrate using a sealant. While I'm better about wiping away excess water after using the faucets now, for several years I wasn't and I'm sure that's why my sink is worse than my wife's. It's resulted in worse hard water stains on my side as well, so definitely a lesson learned.
- is it possible to get a replacement backing plate from Moen or will this require complete replacement of the valve body? I've got a call into Moen but waiting on a response so figured I would see what opinion here is as well.
Once I've got the valve body apart, assume I need to replace o-rings on the faucet... my builder used push-on "shark bite" style shutoff valves which I'm systematically replacing with glued-on valves, so that's on the list as well. I thought I'd just be tightening up a nut or screw, but this is definitely turning into a major project...
Thanks in advance... everyone here is always very helpful.
We have a 12-year-old house that has Moen Kingsley and Monticello 2-handle sink faucets installed throughout. I just recently noticed that the assembly was loose at my sink in the master bath, and investigated to see how hard it would be to tighten it back up. I was shocked to find that the backing plate which holds the valve body to the counter top was almost completely rusted away. When I looked at my wife's sink, the plate is also very rusty. The valve bodies appear to be made of brass, but the backing plates are obviously plain steel.
We have lived in the house since it was built, and the issue with the sinks has gone undetected until now. In hindsight, we've seen evidence that I should have been more careful to investigate (occasional drips of water or rust at the back of the cabinet under the sinks). The builder did not apply any sealant around the base of the handles or faucet where they sit on the counter. As a result, water which pools around them will slowly but surely seep down and cause the damage I've discovered. My questions are:
- is application of a sealant normal for these types of faucet? I've done a kitchen sink installation that called for it, but the Moen instructions (or should I say pictograms since there aren't any words) don't illustrate using a sealant. While I'm better about wiping away excess water after using the faucets now, for several years I wasn't and I'm sure that's why my sink is worse than my wife's. It's resulted in worse hard water stains on my side as well, so definitely a lesson learned.
- is it possible to get a replacement backing plate from Moen or will this require complete replacement of the valve body? I've got a call into Moen but waiting on a response so figured I would see what opinion here is as well.
Once I've got the valve body apart, assume I need to replace o-rings on the faucet... my builder used push-on "shark bite" style shutoff valves which I'm systematically replacing with glued-on valves, so that's on the list as well. I thought I'd just be tightening up a nut or screw, but this is definitely turning into a major project...
Thanks in advance... everyone here is always very helpful.