You can install a new faucet for your kitchen or bathroom without calling a plumber. It’s not a difficult as you may think. With the right know how, the right tools and belief in yourself, you can complete the job and save hundreds of dollars.
Faucets for the kitchen and bath come from different manufacturers in many different styles. Fortunately, most faucets can be installed the same way. A mounting plate usually holds the faucet in place. The only tool that you will need for this job that is somewhat out of the ordinary is called a basin wrench. It is used to loosen the faucet from underneath where access is difficult because it is between the basin and the wall.
Before you can install a new faucet, you will have to remove the old faucet. So make sure to first turn off the water supply. You can do this by reaching underneath the sink and turning off the valves mounted on the wall, there should be two, one for the hot and one for the cold water.
However, if you look under the sink and do not have cut off valves, go no further, you will have to call a plumber to install them before the faucet can be replaced. You can allow a plumber to install the cut-off valves, but you can still save a few hundred dollars by still installing the faucet on your own.
Now go under the sink to disconnect the water supply lines. You will see two tubes that are connected to the valves that you’ve just turned off. Turn the nuts connected to the valves counterclockwise. Also have a pail ready because once these connections are opened you can open the faucet to remove any remaining water.
Your faucet will have either one or two nuts holding it in place, depending on how old your faucet is, the style and manufacturer. Use the basin wrench to undo these counterclockwise. The faucet should now lift right off.
However, sometimes these nuts can be a real problem to loosen. Often they have been there so long that built-up corrosion has made it impossible to loosen them. If this is the situation with your faucet the only way that you are going to get it lose is by breaking these nuts. The easiest way that I find to do this is by using a drill and drilling through them.
Finally, the new faucet can be installed. Remove it from the box and check the directions to make certain that all the required parts are present. Follow any assembly instructions in the directions given by the manufacturer. This step sounds a lot harder to do than it actually is.
Once you have the faucet together, place plumber;s putty on the underside of it before positioning it over the holes in the sink to make a watertight seal. Place the mounting bracket over the valves from the underneath side and tighten with the nuts provided. Installation of the water supply lines is the reverse procedure of when you uninstalled them.
And you thought this job was going to be difficult.
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