The kitchen faucet is one of the most used plumbing fixtures in your home. It is used throughout the day for meal preparation and cleanup, as well as a variety of other activities. After some time, however, faucets begin to show significant indications of wear and tear, such as difficulties operating the leaks, valve, and even cracks in the faucet. Want to change it? Here is how.
Prepare the Area
The first step is to open the cabinets beneath the sink and remove all the objects so you can make room to work. Put a towel on the base of the cabinet and a bucket under the cold and hot water lines, so you can collect any drips. Turn off or disconnect the power to your garbage disposal before doing anything else.
Turn the Water Off
After preparing the area, you need to turn off the water to the kitchen sink by turning the hot and cold water line valves. By closing the valves, water will be stopped off at the sink but not to other faucets, fixtures, and showers in the house. Open the faucet to drain some of the water from the fixture and reduce the pressure on it.
Disconnect the Water Lines
Use a pair of Channellock pillars to loosen the nuts on the cold and hot water lines until you can manipulate them with your fingers. Detach each hose individually, making sure that any extra water drains into the bucket. If you have a sprayer, you should also disconnect it.
Remove the Old Faucet
After disconnecting the water lines, use the Channellock pillars to loosen the locking nuts at the faucet’s base. The faucet is firmly secured to the sink by these nuts. Once the locking nuts have been removed, you should lift the old faucet from the sink and place it in the bucket.
Get the New Faucet Ready for Installation
Generally, the manufacturer provides installation manuals with a faucet kit. In some cases, the manufacturer may even recommend putting the plumber’s tape on the threads to improve the seal. Others may warn against this. Consult the product manufacturer’s instructions to see if a plumber’s tape is required. If you need plumber’s tape for your kitchen faucet, wrap the line connecting threads twice or more. Consider using a multi-purpose cleaner to remove any dirt, residue, or grime left on the sink from the old faucet before starting.
Cover Extra Sink Holes
Depending on the number of sinkholes required for the new kitchen faucet, there may be an additional unused sinkhole. Instead of leaving a hole in the countertop, this additional hole can be covered with a deck plate or trim rings. Or, you can use it for something else, like installing a soap dispenser or a sink sprayer.
Secure the New Fixture
The new faucet and water line hoses are slid through the sink’s openings. All lines entering a single-handed faucet will enter through the same center hole. If you have a faucet with two handles or a fixture with a sprayer, you may have to thread the hoses through the holes on either side of the central hole. Attach the locking nuts to the base of the faucet after it has been positioned. Hand-tighten the locking nuts, then finish tightening them with Channellock pillars. Avoid shattering the nuts by avoiding overtightening these components.
Reconnect the Waterlines
Attach the cold water hose to the cold water line and the hot water hose to the hot water line. Tighten the nuts on these connections with pliers. If the new faucet has a sprayer, attach it and tighten it again, if necessary.
Turn on the Water & Test for Leaks
Check the water line for connections so you are confident that they are secure. Then, turn on the cold and hot water valves. Verify that the replacement was successful and that there are no leaks by examining all connections beneath the sink and at the base of the faucet.