Replacing kitchen faucet and there’s this weird substance under mounting nuts. What do I do?

Submitted by warsquiat t3_12397ms in DIY

Hi all! So I’m replacing my kitchen faucet and everything was smooth sailing (turning off the water, removing the hot and cold water hoses, etc.) but then the mounting nuts just wouldn’t budge. There’s this weird substance under the nuts (epoxy?) that seem to be preventing it from moving. On all of the youtube videos I’ve watched, people remove these relatively easily, or they spray some wd-40 and it comes off, but these just won’t budge.

Do you guys have any ideas? Do I just have to reinstall the old faucet?

UPDATE: Thank you everyone!! Got the faucet off by just cutting off the nuts. Going to scrape the silicone/putty/epoxy off and put my new faucet in. Here’s the pictures!

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sarxsvt t1_jdtrmv7 wrote

Since you're replacing it and those are plastic nuts you could just cut them off and remove the faucet. I've seen people use silicon that way but even after it hardens years later it's not that hard to remove. If that is some sort of epoxy you may have to Dremel or grind it off to get a good seal on the new faucet if it spilled over to the bottom of the sink. I'm guessing it shouldn't be that much trouble though.

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warsquiat OP t1_jdtvhr7 wrote

Thank you!! I just ended up cutting them off and am going to install the new sink in tomorrow. Here’s the photos in case you can identify the mystery substance

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A_Plumber2020 t1_jdxsfyw wrote

Yeah, that is just plumbers putty (sometimes people will use it to seal the faucet to sink if they don't have the gasket) you can use a putty knife or razor blade to scrape the rest off of the sink

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warsquiat OP t1_jdxvj2e wrote

Yeah that’s what I ended up doing. Have the sink installed and wverything is fine, except a piece under the sink was totally corroded and broke off so now there’s a leak. Here’s the piece and where it goes. Do you have any idea about how I could go about sealing this?

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A_Plumber2020 t1_jdypn04 wrote

Looks like you need a new "branch wye" (that's the name of the piece of pipe with the little arm on it that the hose is connected to). It connects to the "basket strainer" (the piece that goes through the sink opening) using a "slip joint" nut and washer. You should be able to take it off with a pair of adjustable pliers. Make sure you have a new "flange washer" for the connection between the "branch wye" and "basket strainer". If you take this photo to a hardware store or plumbing supplier, they should be able to outfit you with the proper parts.

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3rdrockww t1_jdtubay wrote

To me it looks like plumbers putty under the nuts. If so, it might make the nuts a little tougher to move than normal, but not like epoxy would.

Stupid as it sounds, I think you need to just keep working on the nuts. If you can get a screwdriver/chisel and a hammer up there and just tap on the nuts to spin them off, that might work. The nuts are plastic, at the very least you can break them off. Also, (and I only say this because I've done it) make sure you are turning the right way. I've been known to get confused when laying on my back looking up!

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sbfx t1_jdua7sx wrote

You could be under there for hours. Don’t bother IMO, just take a sharp drill bit and break off the plastic wing nuts + epoxy with a drill. Break it in 2 sections then just take the whole sink out.

It’s not worth the time and hassle going under a sink with limited room to move tools around.

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maxirabbit t1_jdts2a9 wrote

Yes, it looks like it might be epoxy. You may have to cut the old faucet out. Start by taking it apart from the top and see what you expose to see how you can get it out.

Can you break the threaded tubes off under the faucet?

With enough torque can you turn the grey plastic nuts?

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kwyl t1_jdtsovf wrote

i agree with u/sarxsvt. it may be some non-silicone caulk or the wrong product entirely. the khaki colored stuff looks familiar to me but the product i'm thinking of has no flex to it at all. dries rock hard but i can't remember where i've seen it. just dremel the plastic nuts off and clean the area of any residue as it may cause issues for the new install.

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microcozmchris t1_jdtsrxs wrote

I would attack this with an oscillating multi tool. Metal cutting blade flush against the sink base and go at 'er. Like like you have room under there.

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