If your faucet is dripping, you really want to get that fixed because it adds up to a high water bill over time. And it’s really very simple; a lot of people are intimidated by it, but it’s really not very complicated at all. Most of you probably don’t have a faucet that looks like this one but that’s ok because it will work the same way even if you have one that sits on top of the back of the sink.
The first thing you want to do is shut off the water supply to the faucet primarily through your shut off valves under the sink - the knobs that feed the hoses that come up and feed the faucet. Now, in my case, I don’t have those and had to cut it off at the curb. So once the water supply is shut off, I can safely take these valves out and not worry about water spraying everywhere. The first thing you want to do is remove the handle, which is the first step always. Sometimes the screw that holds down the handle is hidden under the little cap that maybe says “C” and “H” for cold and hot water. Those will pop off pretty easily. And then once you’ve exposed the screw, you remove the screw and then you lift the handle. It might not come off this easily- you may have to wiggle it and whatnot. But it will come off. You don’t want to pry it, you don’t want to force it off.
The next thing you want to do is remove the stem, which is this interior mechanism here, which controls the flow of water. And you’ll need a crescent wrench to turn this and loosen it, and once you do, it will come off pretty easily. And the culprit, 99% of the time, is a worn washer at the very bottom of the stem, which presses against the seat and shuts off the flow of water. It’s almost always the cold water side too, which is the side that receives the most use. And once you see that this is the problem you can take this entire mechanism to your local hardware store, and they will take this apart for you and put the new washer on, which saves you a lot of time and effort.
And that’s replaced, you just have to reverse the process. Screwing this back into place, and giving it a little turn to tighten it with a crescent wrench - you don’t want to force it to far. And then simply put the handle back on, screw it in place, and then you’re fixed.
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jacqui0316
Apr 12, 2009
