It’s not difficult to remove a faucet. This is a DIY project you can easily handle yourself, saving you the cost of a plumber. On this page you’ll find all the steps you need to do in order to remove your faucet, cartridge and handle.
After you’ve had a faucet for a long time, you shouldn’t be surprised if it starts to leak. Faucets get used a lot, and they are always in contact with water. A leaking faucet is extremely annoying, because you always have to clean up the extra drips. Over time, a leak can raise your utility bill too. Once you know how, you can remove your old faucet and replace it, making a leak an easy problem to solve.
Faucet Removal
Step 1. Take out all of the junk from your under-sink cabinet. You’ll see that there are two supply pipes leading from the floor to the sink. Figure out which one is the hot water pipe and mark it to make re-connection easier later on.
Step 2. Underneath the water supply lines there is a valve that allows you to cut off the sink’s water supply. Turn the valve clockwise to shut the water off. Now you need to get rid of the water in the pipes. Turn on your faucet until no more water runs out.
Step 3. Now it’s time to remove the water supply lines. Unscrew the nuts connecting the supply lines to the faucet tubes. Pliers and adjustable wrenches make this task easy. If the nuts are really stuck on, try using a lubricant on them to make them a bit looser.
Step 4. Now remove the sprayer. You’ll find the sprayer hose under the faucet or sprayer handle. Loosen this hose with your hands, using pliers to remove the nuts connecting the hose at both ends.
Step 5. You will find mounting nuts on either side of the faucet’s base as well as underneath the sink. Single-piece nuts made of plastic can be loosened by hand. Metal nuts need to be removed with your pliers or adjustable wrench.
Step 6. Next, simply grab hold of the faucet and pull it out of the sink. You might see a rubber gasket under the base of the faucet. Remove it and thoroughly clean the area around the three holes. It’s also important to clean the connector threads, using steel wool to help if needed.
Handle Removal
First of all, make sure you’ve turned off the faucet’s water supply. The faucet handle has just one screw at the base. Use a screwdriver to remove this screw. There may be a cap covering the screw, which you and pry off in order to take out the screw. Raise the handle toward yourself so that it separates from the body of the faucet. Now you can reverse the process to attach the new handle, or bring the handle to a repair service.
Cartridge Removal
Once you’ve removed the handle, use a large wrench to loosen the bonnet’s nut. Once you’ve done this you can easily pull out the cartridge from the body of the faucet. If it doesn’t come easily, try giving it a twist as you pull. Bring this cartridge to the home supply store so you can replace it with an identical one.
All of these tasks are quick and easy, and you should have no trouble doing them yourself. You’ll be surprised by how straightforward the procedure is, and you’ll be glad you saved yourself a bit of money instead of giving it to the plumber!