Today was a full day by all measures.
In the morning, Rebecca played with Mommy at our neighborhood playground while I read up on installing sink faucets. Late morning, we swam at our neighborhood pool. We had the place to ourselves for the entire hour we stayed. (I spent the first few minutes picking up more than a dozen cigarette butts and a 1.5-inch shard of windshield glass.) Then lunch at McDonald’s.
Rebecca was supposed to fall asleep during the car ride home — she and my wife were scheduled for a playdate this afternoon and we needed her down by a certain time so she could wake up in time — but she didn’t.
It turned out fine, since the other parties called to cancel, and Rebecca ended up taking a long late nap — over two hours.
I was supposed to install an upgraded faucet in Rebecca’s bathroom while they were out, and I decided to go ahead and do it while they were here. It was easy enough to get the old faucet and drain removed, except for being stuck in a tiny cabinet for half an hour. My arms are simply too long to fit in there along with my torso. Then the new faucet installed easily enough.
(Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
Old faucet in bathroom #2
(Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
New faucet in bathroom #2
The interesting part began when I started installing the new drain apparatus. It didn’t fit in the hole. Thinking it was because of the way the top part screwed into the pipe from underneath, I bought a different replacement drain that would still match the new faucet. It didn’t fit either.
(Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
Drain doesn’t fit in drain hole
The package had said “fits all sinks”, so I did a little research and learned that all new sinks in the U.S. have the same size drain holes. Except ours. Ours was slightly smaller than every other sink’s drain hole in the United States, so standard replacement drains don’t fit. (And “standard” is the only kind sold, as far as I could tell.)
I checked again. Both drains (the one that came with the faucet and the replacement one) would fit if put in upside down. So I learned that the top of the hole is smaller than the bottom of the hole. The bottom is “standard” sized, while the top was slightly (just a millimeter or so) too small. That I was able to fix with an attachment on my drill.
Finally got the drain installed at about 9 p.m.
(Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
New faucet with new drain
This isn’t the drain that came with the faucet, but the finish matches. It’s a push-button style. It looks closed, but water drains under the edges of what you can see here. Pushing the center button down will close the drain. Pushing the button again releases it.
Will check in the morning for leaks. (Update: Everything was fine)
Update, July 27, 2012
The above entry has been updated to include photos of the old and new faucets, and the drain.
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You must have a foreign drain hole. LOL
I think you’re right. :-)