Personal Best

9 years ago

I did a rod repair in 5 hours the day before yesterday, a personal best. I've done this repair at least ten times or so; my first took twice as long.

It is necessary because of fabricator error. Some stone fabricators attach sinks with insert style fasteners, but due to space restraints, can't install them along the front rail where they are most needed. The seal between the sink flange and the stone bottom fails, this dumps water on the steel reinforcement rod bedded into the stone, the steel expands as it rusts, splitting the stone as in the first picture.

The rod must be removed; it cannot be encapsulated. It will continue to rust until the sink rail is destroyed:

If homeowners let it get to this stage, the only cure is an apron style sink.

The faucet was loosened, the sink released, the drain and disposal disconnected, the cabinet front tapped off, and the sink freed from the cabinet in an hour.

I ground out the rod with my Rotozip and vacuum, pulled it, filled the gap with epoxy anchoring cement after cleaning with acetone, polished the sink flange, abraded the old silicone at the stone bottom, installed the Hercules Universal Sink Harness, reattached the faucet, put the sink in the cabinet, reinstalled the cabinet front, siliconed the sink flange, clamped the sink, tightened the harness, checked my reveals, and reconnected the disposal and drain and tested for leaks.

Probably spent a half hour or so polishing the crack to flat and glossy (2nd and 3rd picture). It almost can't be felt.

Six hours with drive time and got a five-star rating (the highest on homeadvisor) for $700.00.

Featured Answer

scrappy25

9 years ago

Wow! You are the guru!!

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Comments (9)

dan1888
9 years ago
More pics, please. Did you get any of the rod failure area underneath.

Nice repair.
Joseph Corlett, LLC thanked dan1888
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User
9 years ago
Why don't they use a non-corroding material for the rod?
Joseph Corlett, LLC thanked User
3katz4me
9 years ago
Wow - hope that doesn't happen to me.
Miranda33
9 years ago
Wow, nice work
Joseph Corlett, LLC thanked Miranda33
mrspete
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow, lovely work!

If homeowners let it get to this stage, the only cure is an apron style sink.

Seriously, what causes this type of damage? I think you're scaring me into wanting an apron sink to avoid any possibility of such ickiness.
Joseph Corlett, LLC thanked mrspete
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
"Why don't they use a non-corroding material for the rod?"

Excellent question. This is a combination of failures. It's a failure using insert style fasteners, a failure of the wrong caulk between the sink flange and stone bottom, it's a failure to use fiberglass or stainless steel rods, and a failure to use more water resistant epoxy instead of cheaper polyester to bed the rod.

Rodding is old-school and obsolete. It's the way Uncle Guido did it and passed it along. "It's the way we've always done it." Omni Sink Hole Savers are an aluminum 2x4 if you will with clamps. They will provide all the insurance needed to get this top from the bench to the home without failure. Once installed properly, the cabinets provide all the strength in tension stone lacks. When you strap a stainless sink, you've just installed a stainless 9" deep "rod"; not so with insert fasteners

Rodding estone is specifically prohibited by manufacturers and unnecessary due to its higher flexural strength than stone.

You should have seen the brown horrible unsanitary gunk lying on that sink flange when I freed that sink. Give you the heebie-jeebies. Five-year-old home.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
dan1888:

These are the only pics I took on this job, although the lady videotaped me constantly. She was told by the fabricator that there were "absolutely no rods in her top". I told her on the phone, before I even saw the job, that if I didn't pull a rod out, I would fix her top for free.

A column from a year ago with pics.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
Original Author
9 years ago
"Wow - hope that doesn't happen to me."

3katzforme:

At no time should a homeowner be able to slip a knife between the sink flange and the bottom of the top or press on an undermount sink and have water push out. Topical application of silicone is counterproductive.

If you can squeeze water out of your sink flange, the sink must be remounted, a job that costs half of this one.

A crack as pictured must be fixed immediately as Neil Young notes, "Rust Never Sleeps". The longer you go, the more the dough.