How to Install Stainers in a Kitchen Sink

The strainer piece or the drain body in your kitchen sink provides a connection for the drainpipes to attach to securely. The strainer must attach to the sink with a watertight connection; otherwise, water will leak around the strainer each time you fill up the sink and cause water damage to your house. You need to have an assistant help you with the installation process, since tightening the lock nut on the underside of the strainer takes two pairs of hands.

Plumber’s putty
Strainer assembly
Slip-joint pliers
Screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Roll plumber’s putty into a rope, which you then wrap around the hole in the bottom of the kitchen sink. Press the strainer into the hole in the sink, compressing the plumber’s putty.
- 2
  Slide the rubber gasket and friction ring over the bottom of the strainer. Thread the lock nut onto the bottom of the strainer, tightening it by hand.
- 3
  Insert the handles of a pair of slip-joint pliers into the grates of the sink’s strainer, and thread a screwdriver between the pliers’ handles. Hold the strainer stationary with the handles while you use another pair of slip-joint pliers to tighten the lock nut onto the bottom of the strainer.

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