Removing a sink waste (belfast sink)

I need to fix a wobbly mixer tap, said tap is in the worktop at the back of a belfast sink.

Looking underneath, there’s no way anyone could access the tap without octopus tentacles with eyes in the end of them. So, it looks like I’ll have to pull the sink out to get at it.

Taking all the plastic u-bend type stuff off is easy enough, but I may need to take the waste/plughole out too. From memory, they tend to just be just sealed with big flat washers and held together by a screw in the centre of the plughole. Am I right, or am I in for a world of “it’s just a simple job” pain, cos it’s glued/silicon’d on?

Will basin wrench not fit?

If not sink waste probably has big plastic nut on the underside you can disconnect U/P trap from?

Oh and obviously sink will weigh a lot – do not drop it!

Will basin wrench not fit?

Possibly, but the combination of the mounting that the sink is on and the back of the cupboard underneath means it’s impossible to see what you’re doing, and probably impossible to get the wrench to it.

If not sink waste probably has big plastic nut on the underside you can disconnect U/P trap from?

Yep, got that, which will help to disconnect the waste from the trap and hopefully allow me to slide the sink forward a bit. However, if I need to get it further out I’ll need to take the waste off because of the way it’s been fitted under the worktop.

Oh and obviously sink will weigh a lot – do not drop it!

Yeah, that is a concern…

…am I in for a world of “it’s just a simple job” pain…

Single tap hole? You might get lucky with a deep socket but you’ll probably have to take one or both of the water feeds off to get at it. If they’re flexible hoses then you’ve got the choice of ends to unscrew and the tap end should only be hand-tight. Copper all the way will be more of a pain
The bolt holding the tap will almost certainly unscrew at the tap because the brass nut will have seized
Sink out would be my last choice because of its weight and its possibly siliconed in. Sink sitting on the worktop is possibly simpler than one underneath
The waste baskets shouldn’t need to be removed IM limited E

It’s done!

Trap detached, sink slid forward about eight inches, could then get a box spanner to the brass nut. Holding the tap base in one hand and turning the spanner in the other I managed to tighten something against something, cos the tap has stopped wobbling. To be honest, I think I’ve just wedged the retaining plate underneath further into the inaccurately-sized hole that was made in the worktop, but as long as it holds I don’t care.

Result (for now…)