Fixing Wash Bowls

[AJAston]

Hi, (First Post)

I'm about to undergo fitting a washbowl on a bathroom unit with seperate mixer tap. I received the bowl from the manufacturer (Vitra) friday. The bowl did not come with any holding down type fixings and the trap arrangment doesn't offer any holding down capabilty. I contacted the manufacturer who has advised me to use silicone to secure the bowl to the top of the cabinet, but somehow this doesn't seem rebust enough. Is this common practice or should I try and work out a way of mechnically fixing the bowl to the unit?

Thanks in advance, for any help.

Al

 

[justlead1]

Hi, Your thoughts are correct. However the silicon method seems the modern way, with this type of situation. With gravity playing a big part problems should not arise using this method.

 

[Kimou]

Silicone's fine. Fitting the taps before will make life easier. Just make sure you set it right first time.

For details on which silicone to use click here:
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-forum/22234-sealent-help.html

 

[PlumbBobBob]

i would be inclined to use something like sticks like which has a very strong bond and comes in white and clear

 

[kay-jay]

personally i would also pva the cut edge of the recess for the basin to protect the counter top from bloating and water damage. allow to dry then drop in the basin using pink grip or similar

 

[leelister6]

Silicone will be fine, done loads like this and never had a problem. I usually smear silicone round the cut edges as well for waterproofing.

 

[stevetheplumber]

use silicon it will be no problem and will be easy to cut of at anytime unlike any adehsive if all the silcon in the world stopped working tommorrow it would be a national disaster
i assume this is a shaped bowl sitting on rather than in a unit so no need to seal any edges as the sillicon under the bowl will prevent any water reaching them
after 24 hours you will be able to lift the unit with the bowl

 

[AlexGas]

I've used silicon, came out OK. Here it is:

 

[leelister6]

I had to remove a basin and pedestal a few years ago that was stuck to the tiles with silicon (no screws) and it fetched all the tiles off. If it can't be fixed with silicone, duct tape, tie wraps or jubilee clips, it can't be fixed!

 

[AJAston]

Thanks for all your helpful advice guys... very useful indeed!

Will post here again soon

Al

 

[PlumbBobBob]

no probs mate

 

[Guest123]

Fitted dozens of these, silicon is fine and I use the clear stuff as it doesn't stand out. I use the Unibond sanitary silicon as it's good stuff.
As for sticking down toilets I hate this practice as it becomes almost impossible to remove the loo for maintenance. I always screw them down.

 

[Kimou]

As for sticking down toilets I hate this practice as it becomes almost impossible to remove the loo for maintenance. I always screw them down.

Agreed. It's just laziness. Although sometimes you have to use it on the back of cisterns that have no holes for anchors. Or am I missing a trick with this? Is there some kind of thin bracket/hook type thingy(<-- extremely technical jargon) you could use that's screwed to the wall and slips under the lid?

 

[Guest123]

Agreed. It's just laziness. Although sometimes you have to use it on the back of cisterns that have no holes for anchors. Or am I missing a trick with this? Is there some kind of thin bracket/hook type thingy(<-- extremely technical jargon) you could use that's screwed to the wall and slips under the lid?

I use porcelian tile drills from 365 Drills that are one of the sponsors on this forum. With their drills you can very easily drill any size of hole into any ceramic ware such as a toilet, cistern or wash basin. Great for drilling holes for fixings and also to change Euro imported cisterns that have a left hand water inlet to a UK right hand one, simply by drilling a new hole and moving the ball valve. I've used these drills to put additional fixings into cisterns, basins and toilets which would have caused problems otherwise and spot on for the cistern you described. Buy the bathroom fitters pack as it's great value and they have online instruction videos on their website, including showing you how to drill a hole into a toilet.

 

[leelister6]

I generally use 2 blobs of silicone to hold most cisterns back to the wall and i've started carrying an old kitchen knife in the van (About 12" long) which is invaluable for removing anything stuck with silicone (And also quite handy if the customer doesn't want to pay!):death: