How to remove bathroom sink stopper?

Answer SVG
Answer
To remove a bathroom sink stopper, follow these steps:
  1. Locate the horizontal plunger rod under the sink that connects to the stopper. This rod goes up and down to open and close the stopper
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  2. Unscrew the pivot nut that attaches the rod to the strap holding the stopper
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    3. You may need pliers or a wrench to loosen the nut4.
  3. Remove the stopper by pulling it straight up out of the drain opening
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    2. You may need to wiggle it back and forth as you pull4.
  4. Clean the stopper and drain opening of any hair, soap scum, or debris using a brush and cleaner2.
  5. Put everything back together by reinserting the stopper, reattaching the pivot rod, and tightening the pivot nut
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    3. Make sure the stopper can move up and down freely.
If your sink has a different type of stopper, like a lift-and-turn or push-and-pull style, the removal process may vary slightly4. But in most cases, accessing the pivot rod under the sink is the key to removing the stopper.




Author: This Old House



Key insights

  • The linkage that operates the stopper may be broken or jammed, causing the sink stopper to malfunction.
  • Using pliers to remove a sink stopper can save you from having to cut it with a hacksaw.
  • ️ It's important to clean and replace the stopper to ensure proper functioning of the bathroom sink.
  • Using plumber's putty and pipe dope can create a really nice tight seal for the bathroom sink stopper.
  • Cutting the tail piece to fit from one point to another is crucial for a proper fit, requiring precision and attention to detail.
  • The tricky connection to make is this fine thread connection.
  • "We got lucky."

Timestamped Summary

  • 00:00 Fixing a broken bathroom sink stopper involves disassembling the pop-up assembly and removing the broken piece.
  • 01:05 Remove the sink stopper by using pliers, cutting with a hacksaw if necessary, and holding the strainer in place with screwdrivers while loosening the nut.
  • 01:54 Replace the rotted bathroom sink stopper with a new one for a clean and functional sink.
  • 02:16 Form a ring of plumber's putty, push it down, add a gasket, tighten with a nut, use pipe dope for a tight seal, and snug it up.
  • 03:20 Adjust the piece to fit, cut the tail piece, apply pipe dope, and swivel the nut to fit the trap.
  • 04:17 Tighten the connections, put in the rod and clip, then insert the stopper and line up the rod.
  • 05:10 Adjust the sink stopper to make it work properly.

Video Full Text

  • 00:00 Now there's a linkage that comes down from the rod up but the faucet and that's supposed to be able to push this lever up and down which makes the starboard and that is bound up tight either. It's either broken or something's in there so let's take that apart all right now all right. This is a pop-up assembly. They call it okay and I'll open this up and you can see on this. There's a ball right and there should be a piece that extends in okay and acts as a fulcrum see how when I push that down it lifts the stopper right and on yours it's completely broken off. First. We're going to break this connection down here okay. Now there's water down here. So we don't really have a bucket underneath unless. I break this connection okay. Now this piece called a tail piece is threaded into the cast piece above okay and I don't really care about that so.
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  • 01:05 I'm going to use my pliers and just back it out okay and if I needed to. I could have just cut it with a hacksaw okay. That's that one now we move up to the next one and that's chrome but I don't worry about it so. I'm just going to back that out all right so that's gone and the last thing to do is to get this nut off so that I can push that strainer up and out of the sink. All right. Now here's where I need your help and I need to stop this strainer from spinning as we loosen the nut okay. So a couple of little openings on the side of the strainer. We put a couple of screwdrivers. In there all right. You take those okay and hold back as I try to loosen this nut watch your fingers just fight me.
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  • 01:54 There we go yes it can be pretty grim when that thing doesn't want to come out. That was pretty rotted. I'm glad we're changing it okay let me push this up to you and take that right out. We'll clean that up and we'll replace it all right so now.
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  • 02:16 I'm going to take some plumber's putty and form it into a just a ring that I can put right here and now push that down in okay now from the bottom. There's a gasket that fits push hold against me in good. I'm going to push up against you a little more okay and then a nut and we'll wrench the whole thing tight. All right once again use that screwdrivers to hold against me good. All right do you see the putty squeezing out yep yeah. We'll clean that up when we're tight there we are this piece has a gasket that comes from the factory but I like to have the pipe dope as well to make a really nice tight seal all right and now we snug it up.
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  • 03:20 Now. What's important is that this piece has to line up exactly perpendicular to the back wall so it'll go into the new linkage and it does if it didn't. I'd have to loosen that nut and adjust it over okay now. I need to cut this tail piece to fit from here to just about right here. So I'm going to have to cut off about a half an inch okay. So now. I want to put a little more pipe dope right here now. I need to put my nut and gasket and what I'm going to have to do to fit this in is I'm going to break this nut just swivel it out of the way slightly and hold back against the trap. You don't want to put any pressure on the pipe coming through the wall see what happens now now.
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  • 04:17 I come in here watch now. I've got enough room to swivel it back in oh and this is the tricky connection to make this fine thread connection okay so that's snugged up. Now. The last connection is to make this compression nut here and we just tighten them up okay now to put the rod and a clip in and I put the that part of the clip. In first then. This one we pass it through. The clip is going to hold it in the right position so the linkage will always be able to move up and down and we're just going to tighten this up with a snug fit okay. Now we're going to have to put the stopper in. I want you to put it in. I want to try to line it up so. I can get the rod right through there okay.
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  • 05:10 Okay. Let's work together. Okay is it down all the way uh yeah okay is it going up and down yep good. I give it a try ann. There it goes hey it works hey. We got lucky.
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