Leaky Kitchen Faucet

[DannyQ]

So it is really annoying! We have a constant dripping leaky faucet and I know NOTHING about plumbing, etc. It probably needs to be replaced, is this hard to do?

Let me know, I want to take care of it soon!

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[FullTilt]

It is super easy to fix. Probably does not even need to be replaced. A small rubber washer is most likely worn out. The link below has step by step instructions.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,193895,00.html

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[WorldCitizen]

Most faucets these days require no special skill to replace. A good pair of channel locks and some teflon tape are really all you need (and you may be able to get away with no channel locks if you’ve got a pretty good grip). You also ned to know how many holes are in your sink underneath the current faucet to get the right type of replacement.

Really it’s just a couple of nuts that need to be loosened underneath and the whole thing comes right off. Just make sure the water is turned off before you start. Check youtube. there’s got to be a million how to videos there for just this type of thing.

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[WMO]

Or, tear down the house and put up an apartment building, or maybe a parking lot.

Sorry, I could not resist a snark.

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[redblack]

like WC said, close the supply lines under the sink before messing around with the faucet.

a kitchen faucet is really just a big valve, right? so you have two kinds of faucets – separate water temperature controls, or one temperature control.

it might be a gasket and i’d start there, because it’s a cheap and easy thing to chase. but the packing inside the valve itself might be shot, in which case you just replace the valve. once you figure out how to get to those gaskets, you’ll see that replacing the valve isn’t much harder. but replace the gaskets around it, too. never reuse those things.

if your temp controls are separate, the faucet is just a conduit for moving water from the valves – located under the controls and accessible under the sink – and your leak will be in or around either of those two valves. (working under the sink is not fun.)

if you have one temperature control, you have a single mixing valve (so called because it mixes hot and cold water) controlled by the big handle. on newer faucets, you usually pull a set screw of some kind, remove the handle, and your mixing valve will be right there, inside the faucet body.

lefty loosie, righty tightie. :)

you can get brand-specific repair kits, which look kind of like this one (for peerless faucets):

but the valve cartridge(s) will be anywhere from $10 to $25, depending on the brand.

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[brst]

If you end up replacing the faucet, be for-warned that the nuts can be hard to access depending on sink style. You can get a basin wrench for about $15, or I can loan you one. It will make the job a lot less frustrating.

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[DannyQ]

HOLY Moly! Talk about community support….

:-)

I love you guys! Thank you so much! We rent this house from my girlfriends parents, so I mentioned it to them and they actually want to replace the whole faucet with an updated and modern style since they will be selling the house (or trying to) this summer. So the problem is no longer mine!

I really appreciate it. Loan?? Holy moly, how generous! :-)

-Danny Q

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[redblack]

you’re welcome, sir. i just replaced my wife’s lav sink and faucet, so it was all pretty fresh in my mind. :)

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