Question about using plumber's putty on a new sink

I just redid my kitchen sink last week and used a fresh tube of Hercules plumber's putty for the drain flange. The instructions said to apply it, tighten the nut, and wipe away the excess. I did that, but two days later I noticed a weird, oily stain spreading on my new granite countertop right under the drain. It looked like the putty was sweating oil and it etched into the stone. I had to call a stone guy who said the putty reacted with the granite's sealant and it cost me $450 to have the section polished out. I learned the hard way that some plumber's putty formulas are not safe for natural stone. Has anyone else run into this? What do you use under a drain flange if you can't use standard putty?

2 comments

2 Comments

white.sandra3d ago

Wow, $450 for a polish job is brutal. That oily stain etching into new granite is a nightmare. I've heard of plumber's putty damaging stone, but actually seeing it sweat oil and ruin a sealant is next level. Makes you wonder why they even sell that stuff for kitchen sinks.

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zara_hill463d ago

Right? @white.sandra, it's wild they still push that putty when it's basically a time bomb for stone counters.