OLD bathroom shelf-back sink faucet install question
 

I have a bathroom sink and faucet exactly like this (pic from the 'Net). I believe it's an American standard. We got the faucet rechromed and I'm reinstalling the faucet sink. Unfortunately, it's been 1-1.5 years since I disassembled the sink/faucet, and when I did, I assumed we'd buy a new faucet (not many options these days, probably mostly junk so we're going this route).

https://deabath.com/wp-content/uploa...04/WHS1948.jpg

My question is around the nuts and washers that hold the faucet body to the sink. The faucet body is behind the sink, and the stems have 2 nuts and 2 "washers" that hold the faucet in place from the sink side. The washers have a U shaped cross section, and the "top" of the U is what faces the sink.

Should be some sort of rubber or something that sticks out of the back of the washer (top of the U) to press against the sink, like a rubber gasket or something. What do you think?

Or should those just go up against the sink, and if there's a rubber washer, it should be on the back side of the sink closer to the brass nut?

Or should there just be nothing (which could allow water from through the sink to drip out of the back side)?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1702691001.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1702691001.jpg

Wouldn’t you bed them with plumbers putty - like you’d do with a drain?

OK, that works for me! That's why I come here.

GL. And while it’s not my thing, it’s kinda retro cool.

Plumbers putty does eventually dry out. Many a sink drain I've replaced had broken potato chips as a seal.
A buddy liked to use silicone glue in plumbing but I've never tried that.

You could add a fat o-ring to take up a lot of the empty space.

Tried silicone a couple of times but it’s a bugger to get apart. IANAP though.

It's what was in the house when we moved in. It's a tiny bathroom, and the sink is pretty small so should work well for the space. The missus wants to keep some retro touches. The sink is probably ~25-30 years newer than the house. I'm guessing that someone added indoor plumbing and this was probably the original bathroom sink when they did.

I am OK to use silicone in some places, but for this spot, I'm OK with using the putty.

My son just bought a row house built in 1910. He has the same sink and an old cast iron tub. He retiled the floor and elected to keep both items. Honestly, he cleaned them up and the look great.

I like the O-ring idea. Assemble such that no metal touches the sink.

Might have to stack O-rings.

And a heavy coat of silicone grease on the o-ring/s . Done 😁

another vote for O rings..

The U-channel is for putty. For installation you move the gland nuts forward to expose just enough thread for the finish nut/washer/putty assembly. On the back there should be a brass flat washer between the bgand nut and the back of the sink. Also there would be a fiber washer directly against the cast iron back since it's not smooth.

Rubber o-rings work too, but they don't last forever and can stain. You need to buy good ones from a plumbing supply that won't dry out and crack. I see a lot of red ones on old work.

The idea of using silicone grease is good with rubber because it can bunch up while cinching down.

Thanks lots of good info in your post.
It sounds like I need a couple of fiber washers and bread washers.

Back at my old bachelor pad house that was built in 1950, the plumbing was a challenge as nothing was standard to the modern stuff. My bathtub had two separate knobs like your sink, and it was a fixture with the knobs 14 inches apart. The hot water side started leaking, and it would not shut off.

I had to shut the water off at the street, and cut a hole in the sheetrock in the dining room to get to the back of the bathtub to remove the entire fixture. This was before the big box store era, so I went to the local hardware and lumber yard store. They had a group of retired tradesmen that would sit around and dring free coffee and eat donuts and chat. There were the brain trust I loved to talk to. I walked in with my fixture, and one of the guys that was a retired plumber said something like, wow, a model 1522 faucet, I haven't see one of those in a while. We ended up going down the street a mile or so to his house and to the garage, which was his faucet repair shop. He dissembled it, and put in new packing glands, o-rings and removed all the lime buildup. He said put this putty here and here, and hook it all back up. It worked fine until I sold the house many years later.

And that bathroom had a pink bathtub, toilet, and lavatory with green tile walls. Good old Pink and Green bathrooms.

The point is the plumbers putty was what worked and if things fit right the putty will last for many years, and be easy to take apart next time.

Good idea to exercise the shutoff valves and main occasionally.
1/4 turn are the modern ones.
Spray some WD-40 or better silicone penetrant spray and be very gentle.
Use a wrench on the back so the valve-pipe doesn't get twisted...
Once it cracks loose, rock it open just a little at a time, with the water running to flush debris.
It may drip from around the stem after, but the gland nut can usually be snugged down.

At that same house I tried to turn off the water to fix the kitchen sink, and I could not get it to budge, even with a long cheater pipe. I asked a buddy of mine that installed sprinkler systems for a living. He suggest that if by some random fluke, the glass of the meter that protected the gauges was broken, they could not read how much water was used, and they would replace it. A month later my valve was replaced and I had one that I could turn on and off with ease. It was just really strange that the valve broke at such a convenient time.

That same house had lead pipes for the drains to the sewer. Even the toilet was mounted to a lead pipe. Try finding fitting to connect to a lead pipe.

Lead and okum. The old days.

The aqueduct bridges from a distant mountain reservoir were the old days.

(edit: but they did have lead pipes!)

LOL! I'm guessing we're now talking about the difference between "vintage", "antique," and then either "medieval" or maybe "ancient".