Bathroom sink faucet install

[cavalierowner]

I am just finishing up a complete remodel of my master bath and was looking at the installation instructions for the lav faucet. The instructions for setting the pop-up drain and the faucet to the deck say to use silicone caulk to seal. I spent my career as an architect telling contractors to follow manufacturer's instructions, but here I am asking the manufacturer "Are you sure about that??". I have installed probably dozens of sinks and this is the first one to say silicone; it always used to be plumber's putty. In fact, I was told by a plumber years ago that silicone was absolutely wrong! Has technology left me in the dust since I retired?

[Surface Tension]

Don't know if its because of new gasket types or because the manufacturer thinks its easier for the DIY'er to use silicon instead of plumbers putty. 

[RebelSS]

Not me. Plumbers putty all the way. Probably because some of this younger generation doesn't have a clue what Plumber's Putty is.

Edited July 27, 2015 by RebelSS

[Bobby Bass]

Guess I am half and half. I always use plumbers putty to seat  the drain but silicone for the faucet, I think the silicone adhesive use comes in to play here.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Bobby Bass

[Pat K]

The 1st time I saw silicone recommended instead of plumbers putty was 6 years ago when I replaced 3 bath faucets. Even though I'm at least 30 years past being the younger generation I used the silicone as recommended and have had no problems.

[cavalierowner]

Thanks everyone!

 

An update. I did break down and use silicone per the manufacturer's instructions. It took a while, but somewhere I seemed to recall that plumbers putty can stain granite and the top is granite (sink is not). So do one in silicone, do both in silicone, right? The water seal for the drain is that big, thick gasket at the underside of the sink, so if anything leaks past the drain, it just gets into the overflow area, so I wasn't too concerned about that. So far everything is good; time will tell.

 

BTW, when I was looking at sinks a few weeks ago, I noticed that there were a lot of sinks that did not have overflows. I always thought an overflow was a code requirement. Am I wrong?? Although, as I type this, I don't think I've ever seen a kitchen sink with an overflow.