Use of 100% silicone sealant

[mf915]

i'm going to be installing new faucets, bath sink and kitchen sink, kitchen bowls... Is it recommended to use silicone sealant
1) under bath pop-up drain
2) kitchen strainer
3) underneath the border of kitchen bowl
4) underneath the faucets

As far as I see, most of the above already have some sort of rubber gasket. Is it still necessary to use silicone sealant ??

THanks

 

[Jadnashua]

Under the sink. Use plumber's putty under the drain. IF the other things have gaskets, they probably don't need any.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

silicone

Do you ever intend to remove any of these? If so, silicone will make it either difficult or impossible, without a great deal of time and effort, and even then it would be a question if it could be done without damaging the sink or tub.

 

[Plumber1]

Gaskets don't work well.

I use plumbers putty on everything but marble and imitation marble so sometimes you may need to use clear silicone caulk. You may want to use a colored calk under a sink flange.

 

[Cass]

I agree with plumber1 about the plumbers putty. If you do use caulk don't use silicone because like hj said you will have problems if you have a problem and have to remove it. If you do use caulk you should not run any water for a couple of days to allow it to dry well.

 

[mf915]

thanks for the response...
i'll go with putty then....
If the faucets/sink drain/strainer already have rubber gasket, should I put plumber's putty underneath the gaskets ? Or should I take out the manufactuer's gasket ?

 

[Cass]

no putty should be added to purposefully contact the gasget. Putty goes on 1 side (top) the gasget on the other (bottom).

 

[Mikey]

Can't use plumber's putty on granite, either.

 

[Verdeboy]

Do what Cass said: Use plumber's putty only under the top portion of a lavatory pop-up, basket strainer, or garbage disposal flange, and use the rubber gasket underneath to make a good seal.

I never use anything but sink clamps to anchor a kitchen or lavatory sink for the reason Hj mentioned--it will be a bear to remove it when the time comes.

I've only used silicone to seal around a faucet once, because that particular faucet didn't come with a plastic base like every other faucet comes with.

Having said all that, I'm trying to find excuses to use the G.E. Bio Seal mildew-resistant silicone II product. It's the easiest caulk I've ever worked with. When you get it on your hands, 99.9% of it wipes off with a paper towel. So you only need to actually wash your hands once--after you are all done. When I use the cheap acrylic latex stuff, I find myself washing it off my hands all the time.

 

[Mikey]

I used that stuff on my new granite countertops; worked great -- no muss, no fuss.