Master Bath Redo: Post 1 - Changing a Faucet

Monday, November 23, 2009

Raise your hand if you’ve changed a faucet before. Okay – yeah, that’s a lot of you (did you know I can see you through your computer?...just kidding...uncomfortable silence). But for those of you who haven’t, this post is for you.

I bought two faucets on Ebay last May (for a steal)…and then they sat in my closet staring at me for 6 months. Why didn’t I install them right away? Because I was skeered. Yep, Ms. Go-Get-‘Um was afraid to change faucets herself.

So, over the weekend I decided to woman-up and face my fears head on. And you know what? It wasn’t that hard. Now I feel silly for waiting so long.

There are lots of great tutorials on changing faucets on Google or Bing or whatever, so feel free to refer to those. They might be written by actual plumbers and expert-types. I’ll give you a rough overview of the process, though.

Step 1
Turn off the water by turning the water valves beneath the cabinet (I believe turning them to the right closes the valve...at least that's how mine were...and I'm guessing all valves are created equal...am I sounding like a blonde or what?). It might help to put a bowl beneath the valves to catch any dripping water.

Run the sink faucet to drain any remaining water.

Step 2

Use an adjustable wrench to disconnect the hot and cold water lines from the water valves.

Step 3

Use an adjustable wrench to remove the mounting nuts on the underside of the faucet (beneath the sink). I had to lay on my back inside the cabinet to do this...not entirely comfortable, but I think it was a good ab workout.

Step 4

There’s a little screw that’s attached to the (oh geez, what’s it called)…you know the thing you lift if you want to close the drain. It’s beneath the sink. Just loosen the screw and the drain opening closing thing will be loose.

Step 5

Remove the old faucet. You may need to use a putty knife to loosen it.


(Isn't the old faucet a beauty?)

Step 6

Clean the faucet area of the sink to remove any dust or grime.

Step 7

I don’t know if this is necessary, but the Lowe’s guy told me to do it…and I chose to believe him. Make a snake out of plumber’s putty and place it on the inside edge of the faucet (see photos below).


Then put faucet in place.

Step 8

Attach new mounting nuts on the underside of the faucet. And tighten the screw on drain opening/closing thing.

Step 9

Attach hot and cold water lines to the new faucet and to the water valves (make sure the right line goes to the right water valve). And you’re done!

See?…it’s a lot of steps, but it’s pretty simple. The only hitch I ran into was that my old faucet’s hot and cold water lines were copper and completely attached to the faucet. So I couldn’t reattach them to the new faucet. I took the old faucet (with the long copper lines attached) to Lowe’s and asked what to do.


The helpful man pulled out an inexpensive and easy to use water line (see photo below), so I just used those. Easy peasy.


I hope this helps those of you who haven’t changed a faucet before. I promise, if I can do it you can do it. Seriously.

21 Suburbanites Said:

Lisa@Pickles and Cheese said...

Oh Thanks for posting this!! I want to start changing out some dated looking faucets and have been afraid and sadly my husband is not very handy. Good thing he is so good looking! I am going to start shopping for a faucet and give it a go. THANKS!

Jacci said...

Hey, look at you! :) Love the new faucet.

Jacci

Debra Howard said...

Cool!!!!!! Now if I can just get past my husband to do it. Hmmmmm, I may have to plan this when he is out of town.
Debbie

Windlost said...

Dude, I am seriously impressed. In my job, I troubleshoot heavy equipment every day. But I don't change faucets on the weekend. You ROCK.

: )

xo Terri

Anne said...

You're my hero. I've been wanting to change my kitchen faucet and am chicken. That, and I think a new faucet will just make me want a new sink, too. It's a slippery slope, but I think I'm ready to go slippin'! Thanks for the post!

Thrifty Decor Chick said...

I have been planning to do this FORever in our master bath. Seriously, ages. My Dad says he's coming to help with those and then I think I'll be able to do them again no problem!! You rock!!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

WOW - you are awesome!

tracy said...

You are fierceness itself. Awesome!

Aimee said...

HA! This made me laugh! My husband was six hours away when my kitchen faucet broke, so I was forced to learn how to do this!! Good for you!

beth said...

Your new faucet is beautiful! Kudos to putting it in all by yourself!! I would NEVER attempt to do anything like that by myself. NEVER! But you do make it look oh so easy. :)

Robin Johnson said...

I can not tell you how much I needed to see this post. I need to replace three faucet's in my home - they are falling apart and water goes every which way. Thanks

CRICKET said...

I think its probably a lot easier in a newer house, we changed out 3 in our 1940's house and we ran into multiple issues, we overcame them but its not something I look forward to doing again.

Lindy said...

Oh, you have made us so PROUD! And I agree with the slippery slope post... a faucet can lead to a sink.

My favorite household rhyme to help you remember which way to turn valves and screws:
Righty tighty,
Lefty loosey.


In this case, to turn the water off you must tighten the valve - turn right or clockwise until firm.

Unknown said...

Haha I loved reading this! You sound so much like me it's unbelievable!

Lisa said...

You're so brave for doing this! I'd be too scared I'd mess something up!

Bette said...

When I'm trying to figure out which way to close or open something, I say (in my head) "RIGHTY TIGHTY... LEFTY LOOSY" It works everytime!

Brittney said...

THANK YOU for this!!! I used your instructions for installing my very first faucet as well :) My husband got home from work and was very impressed. I was able to get it done during my daughters two naps. GREAT WORK! I love your blog :)

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Karollin said...

You are absolutely right. Yeah, there are numerous tutorial regarding on changing faucets that might be useful. Hence adopting the proper process is really important. Just explored your super quality faucet changing project and ran into with rapt attention. The steps you explained including running the sink faucet to drain any remaining water, using an adjustable wrench, removing the old faucet, cleaning the faucet area of the sink to remove any dust or grime, attaching new mounting nuts- oh what not you made the perfect touches- all were so so efficient and praiseworthy. "Thank you' perhaps will be less saying for this awesome job. Here I also feel a desire to add CBM faucet factory that focuses on providing a variety of Faucet & Drainer & Valve for customers. It has advanced equipment and great technical capability that brought it into a wide reputation in the market. maybe some guys here find this useful.

 

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