If I can, I wanna fix this problem myself.

Both sides of my kitchen sink have drain leak problems. When I moved into this house 3 years ago, I had the old enamel double sink replaced with a new stainless steel sink, and am surprised to be having leak problems already.

I'm astonishingly ignorant and inept when it comes to things like this, but it still seems like a problem I ought to be able to fix without paying a plumber several hundred dollars, not to mention the time I would have to take off work to be home when they come to do the work.

As best I can figure out, there are several places the leaks originate from. Forgive my lack of correct terminology, and hope it doesn't make it impossible for the handimen/women among us to be helpful.

1. Looking down into the sinks, there are the funnel-like drains that drop down into the holes at the bottom of the sinks. I assume there is a sealant between the basin and the lip of the drain funnel. Those seals are apparently broken. If I push down, water seeps up onto the top of the lip, and both drain funnels easily jiggle from the topside of the sink.

2. Looking under the sink, those "funnels" have exterior threads and there are large metal "nuts" topped with rubber gaskets. It looks like those nuts should screw onto those threads, and the end result should be a snug fit of the gasket and the nut to the underside of the sink.

3. I thought to tighten the nut on one side, the side with the most prolific leak. It appears the diameter of the "nut" is fractionally greater than the diameter of the uppermost threads. Neither the threads nor the nut appear to be stripped. It seems the nut is simply too big. There is some evidence of some sort of sealant or putty (not silicone) that had been applied to the rubber gasket, and which I assume held both the gasket and the "nut" in place for some time, but which has now failed.

4. I'm figuring, perhaps incorrectly, that the longevity of the seals between the topside of the sinks and the underside of the lips of the drains, depend on the the drains being held more-or-less motionless by a tight seal/clamp from the underside that depends not only on a sealant, but on the threads of the drain and the nut meshing sufficiently to provide stability.

5. It is possible there is also some leakage around the the places where the pvc "nuts" connect the pvc drainpipes to the metal drain funnels, but I can't evaluate that until the the problems "upstream" are fixed.

And what is it with plumbers these days? Maybe nothing. Maybe it is just me not understanding. There was a leak problem with the kitchen sink that was there before I moved in, and before I replaced the kitchen sink. The first plumber I called went in while I was gone, left stalactites of silicone dripping under the cabinet without fixing a thing and also stole some relatively minor power tools in the process. The plumbing company that installed the new sink also dealt with some other minor plumbing problems that are still OK, told me, correctly, that I didn't need to change a drain that would have been rather expensive to replace for a front-loading washer. Maybe I don't have realistic expectations in terms of modern day plumbing. I just didn't expect to have major drainage leak problems from the sink assembly itself within 3 years of having a new sink installed.

Boy, am I long-winded. MIght be "too much" information for some, but I am so ignorant about these matters there is no such thing as "too Much" information for me to try to figure it out.

Do I need a plumber, or can some among ya'll help me figure this out on my own?

xo,

Janie