Silicone Vs Plumbers Putty

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Kail

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I have been plumbing the house I'm trying to build and I'm almost done with rough-in and starting to second guess myself before the walls get covered up. For my shower and tub drain I used a high grade silicone to set the drain assembly instead of plumbers putty. Is this OK? It seems like people do both. Which is better?

Thanks ahead of time for any advice?
 
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The mistake a lot of DIY make with Plumber's Putty is when they use TOO MUCH of it.

Manufacturers' will let you know if you can use it or not, ie. tub drains that contact the tub.
 

Cool Blue Harley

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Silicone for me. Anything I don't want to leak which is, well, everything. Clean up with WD 40. Sometimes a bit of plumbers putty in my slip nuts but usually Laco Slicktite. Phenoseal for sink and WC caulk joints because it's water soluble for easier clean up. Silicone on basket strainers.

sink-basket-with-silicone.jpg
 
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Terry

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If it is something you are NEVER going to replace and it is hard to get to, such as a shower drain, silicone. Otherwise plumber's putty.

Same for tub drains. Putty for the strainer, nothing on the rubber seal between tub and tub drain.

I reserve Silicone for shower drains.

On lav pop-ups, pipe dope on the threads where it goes through the large rubber washer to prevent water from rolling down the threads.

On compression sleeves, normally nothing, or maybe light oil.

Anything with a seal, like a flex lav supply, or a flex water heater supply, nothing.

sink-basket-with-putty.jpg


I use putty for sink baskets.
 
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Asktom

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If the silicone works, you don't really need to think about it. If the silicone fails and you need to clean things up, you will learn to see the positive side to putty.
 

hj

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quote; a bit of plumbers putty in my slip nuts

Aha! So YOU are the person doing that. Thanks for making my miserable when I have to try to loosen them in a small cabinet.
 

Cool Blue Harley

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My suspicion is that every cabinet is considered a "small cabinet" if you have a "typical" plumbers frame. My sincere apologies for the countless years of misery I have personally caused you. Ha Ha
 

EvenICouldDoThat

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Plumber's putty for basket strainers, and here's why: if the sink users accidentally break the seal between the strainer and the sink, it will leak whenever there is water being held in the sink. For instance, in the triple sinks in a bar, used for washing glasses. The resultant leak is in a rarely seen area, and by the time its found, it is very, very ugly. Well, ok, you guys are plumbers, so ugly is the probably the usual for you, but still... (And I'm saying this in a very respectful way,honestly.)
 

Terry

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I don't use Silicone on baskets for sinks. That's a little too permanent for me. Yesterday the homeowner wanted to replace the basket on his seven year old Kohler undermount kitchen sink for the disposer. I tried to remove it, it was was glued on very well. I looked at the nice cast iron sink, the stone counters, and thought..............the old flange isn't all that bad. If I start cutting and prying, they may be into a new sink and counter though.
We did get the new Kohler hands free faucet installed, and the Insinkerator hot/cold dispenser installed. And a new TOTO Carlyle installed in his upstairs with a Dahl TOTO angled shutoff.
I use putty or stainless putty on baskets.
 
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