Round peg in a square hole?

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Round peg in a square hole?
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Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 5:54 pm Post subject: Round peg in a square hole?

Well, a tap rather than a peg...

Lady wants new taps in her bathroom sink. Of course, it is an old sink, with big square holes for the taps and the taps she wants are modern with nothing square about them at all.
That is not in itself a problem because the square hole is much bigger than the round pipe, but the base of the taps are only just big enough to not fall through the hole, and does not look to seal to it well.

I can't imagine I am the first person to hit this problem so I'm guessing there is a thing you can get to take up the slack in the hole, but I cannot guess what it might be called.

Alternatively, I could do what the chap before did which is to stuff it all with some kind of filler, but I that made it a pig of a job to get the old taps out so if I'm going that way then I think I want a better kind of filler...

Or I could just tell her to choose a tap with a wider base.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 6:14 pm Post subject:
Rubber washer and/or larger base?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 6:15 pm Post subject:
Putty is traditional. Nice big washer maybe?

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 6:36 pm Post subject:
Funnily enough when you google it there's lots of people asking but nothing specific seems to turn up. Something a bit posher than a washer, putty or silicone would be a suitable escutcheon (nee flange) like this: https://www.plumbingsupply.com/escutch.html#dbathshower Possibly worth popping in to a local plumbing place. Either that or get a different lady.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 6:53 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Funnily enough when you google it there's lots of people asking but nothing specific seems to turn up.

Something a bit posher than a washer, putty or silicone would be a suitable escutcheon (nee flange) like this: https://www.plumbingsupply.com/escutch.html#dbathshower

Possibly worth popping in to a local plumbing place.

Either that or get a different lady.

That's a bit extreme.

Well done.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 6:54 pm Post subject:
Sometimes local shops can be quite helpful.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 6:59 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Sometimes local shops can be quite helpful.

Wives'R'Us?

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 8:06 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Funnily enough when you google it there's lots of people asking but nothing specific seems to turn up...

I do often google things before asking you lot...

sean wrote:

Putty is traditional...

Putty is quite possibly what was used before. The effort getting it off puts me off using it again.

Nick wrote:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Possibly worth popping in to a local plumbing place.

That's a bit extreme.

I can do extreme, and indeed that was my intention, but they are not open 'till Monday.

Thanks folks: we have at least the pretence of a plan...

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46239
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 9:34 pm Post subject:

iirc the things treac mentioned come in various metal finishes to match the tap but they can also be had in ceramic to match the sink .

you dont want putty, you need plumbers bedding compound which does not crack as much as putty does ,bed the scutch onto that and then put a bit under the tap flange.

dont over tighten the nut ,enough to hold the tap in place but not much more as scutches have a habit of collapsing or breaking if you over do it .( as do basins and enamel bathtubs

)

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46239
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 9:36 pm Post subject:
ps old putty is best removed by careful use of a sharp chisel from the flats and a penknife in the holes.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 9:56 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

ps old putty is best removed by careful use of a sharp chisel from the flats and a penknife in the holes.

It was removing the old tap from the putty that presented problems rather than the putty from the sink.
It did not help that the putty (if putty it was) had firmly bonded to the nut...

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46239
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 16 10:47 pm Post subject:

tis too late for that one but there are a few tricks that can help when that happens.

turning the tap down to thread it tighter can work it loose but not always.

warming the threaded pipe very carefully sometimes breaks the lock ,get wrong you will need a new sink.

removing the sink to make it easier to get underneath and very carefully drilling out the putty around the threaded pipe with a fine drill and a dremel can be effective if done carefully.if you are over enthusiastic or use too big a drill bit you need a new sink comment . i haven't messed that one up so far.

using a huge wrench on the tap and encouraging it with light hammer knocks while putting leverage to it is often good but again is best done with the sink deliberately de mounted as it is fairly easy to pull the thing off the wall or pedestal and so perhaps breaking it by leaving a chunk of sink in place when the rest moves

tis a horrid part of the job so well done for getting out with no damage

my lest favourite bathroom get it loose jobs are corroded bog seat fixings closely followed by steel screws rusted into a wall through a cistern that needs moving but not replacing.both of those can get expensive

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15988

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 16 6:07 am Post subject:
I thought I had seen those escutcheons, but didn't know what they were called. One of those under each tap, carefully tightened, should work with packing under it.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 16 8:02 am Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Funnily enough when you google it there's lots of people asking but nothing specific seems to turn up...

I do often google things before asking you lot...

Google is only really any help if you know what things are called, though. One of my biggest challenges with trying to be more practical is that I don't know what things are called. I know what I want them to do, but one looks a complete idiot in B and Q saying things like 'Are there such a things as skirting boards with hollowed out bits at the back so that you can run wires through them, and incidentally, actually fit flush with one's really dodgy walls and stop the slugs getting in?' (There are, they are called rebate skirting. So we live and learn)

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 16 8:30 am Post subject:

good luck with project sink.
however, has your lovely lady been kept up to speed?
there is so much choice out there now maybe she would flex a little?
I spent some time looking at taps for the house project, often spoilt for choice... or is it a done deal? I found some I really liked and there was a choice of square or round pillars for the same style top.

the name of things for a specific purpose has a whole new dimension in another language...'le truc pour le robinote qui est tros grand pour le tru'
yes I know the spelling is all wrong, but I don't write it down for the nice man in the bricco shop...

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