Remove old strainer and plumber's putty without breaking ceramic sink

Hi,

there seems to be a leakage from the strainer in my bathroom sink and so i need to replace the metal strainer which has been locked in place by a large bolt underneath the sink + some plumber's putty. The installation was done around 4 years ago.

My question is : Will the white ceramic/porcelain (don't remember) sink break when i try to remove the strainer (after loosing the tightening bolt).

Will the plumber's putty still be soft or will be hard as cement/grout ?

Thank you very much !

It should be no problem. Plumbers putty doesn't get hard.

even after 4 years ?

At worst, it would be the plumber's putty that breaks i guess instead of the sink ?

morris, The putty breaks instead of the sink. It will not likely be as hard as grout.

I recently removed a flange with some very old plumber's putty. I'm talking 20 years old. The putty was not really hard. It had turned a bit gritty, but it didn't make it difficult to take the flange up when I gently pushed from below. The putty is not used as an adhesive so much as a seal to keep water and air from going through. Also, if you wet the putty it becomes soft again. So if you can loosen the bolt and get the flange to lift up a little, if you feel there is still too much resistance you can dampen it a bit to make it looser.

You may have to scrape the old putty off with a plastic scraper or a sponge before applying new putty because some of it will probably stick on.

Thank you so much guys !

It will try it then