# Plumber's putty on granite



## LLigetfa (Jul 11, 2010)

I thought I had done my homework and made sure to use special "non-staining" plumber's putty when I installed the Moen fixture on my bathroom vanity.  The way the Moen is designed it doesn't really lend itself to just gooping it up with silicone seal.  If you don't seal well around the fixtures, water will go down the holes, react with the metals, and stain the granite permanently.  Well... "non-staining" plumber's putty does stain granite too!

I removed the fixture and all the putty but the oil in the putty soaked deep into the stone and left very obvious rings.  I prepared a poultice of talc and acetone and filled the holes with it.  I also applied a 1/4" thick layer of the poultice on the surface over the area of the stain and then covered it with Saran wrap.  After letting it sit for 16 hours it looked much worse as the acetone soaked in and darkened a much larger area.  The wife was freaking, thinking that it spead the oil out further but after I removed the Saran wrap, the acetone started evaporating and the large dark stain retreated.  I still have the poultice on the surface so I cannot see how much of the original stain is gone.  It needs to stay in place so that it can continue to wick up the stain as the acetone comes up out of the stone.  I may have to apply the poultice two or three times if necessary, allowing at least 24 hours for each application.

The dealer claimed that the granite was sealed by the fabricator but I really doubt it as every drop of water leaves a dark spot until it dries.  The experts that prescribe the acetone-based poultice warn that the acetone will remove the sealer and that the granite will have to be resealed.  Now I will have to wait for all the acetone to leave the stone before I can seal it and I need to seal it before I reinstall the fixture.

I also will have to figure out how best to mount the fixture without plumber's putty.  I cannot goop silicone seal the way one would with plumber's putty.  I'm going to have to use a varity of O-rings and custom cut rubber gasket with sparing amounts of silicone seal.  I really can't believe that a medium-to-high-end Moen fixture would be designed to be installed with plumber's putty.  I mean, it's not likely to be installed on some cheap Formica top!  ARGH

[rant off] (was it on?)


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## LLigetfa (Jul 12, 2010)

Well... the poultice is off and the results are mixed.  Some places are as good as new but some spots are still lightly stained.  The wife doesn't agree with me and thinks it is just variations in the granite.  She thinks the good as new spots are actually bleached out and lighter than original.  I wanted to do a second application of poultice but she didn't want to.  She also doesn't want to seal it.

The two taps got a custom gasket cut from EPDM as they have large flat brass washers to compress the gasket.  The EPDM was just thin enough with not even a hair to spare.

The spout though did not lend itself to the same treatment.  I dug through my plumbing junk drawer and found a large neoprene washer and matching flat brass washer that although smaller than the base of the spout worked well with the offset supply line and popup drain rod.  It was the perfect thickness to compress and form a good seal.


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## WoodPorn (Jul 12, 2010)

This is the exact reason I went with SileStone for my surfaces, I could not deal with sealing/resealing/staining.


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## Highbeam (Jul 12, 2010)

My moen fixture sits in a granite top. I installed with plumber's putty from HD. No staining though the granite is black. I sure do like the fixture.


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## LLigetfa (Jul 13, 2010)

I like the fixture too but I wish they were designed so that a neoprene gasket could be used whout resorting to a backup washer.  The two valves were so close in tolerance that the thin gaskets I made just barely fit.

As for the plumber's putty, they should never have claimed it to be non-staining!


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