How to Replace a Kitchen Faucet

Ron answers the call of a neighbor in need when his friend Peter asked him to stop by and give him a hand replacing his old kitchen faucet as a first step in a larger kitchen project.

Ron's first step was to shut off the water. Normally there are shutoff valves right under the sink so that the water can be turned off locally while installing the new faucet.

But since there weren't any in this kitchen, Ron had to find the shut off valves for a larger portion of the home, in this case the entire first floor. These were located in the basement, and Ron shut the valves and then opened the faucet to bleed off any remaining water pressure.

Ron first removed the sink drain, beginning with the dishwasher hose. It is not always absolutely necessary to disconnect the drain but doing so allows easier access and gives you a lot more room to work. The existing PVC plastic pipe was simple to take out and would be just as easy to put back.

Next, Ron cut the copper water lines where they came out of the wall. This is where he would detach the lines from the faucet and he also planned to install shutoff valves so that from now on, the sink water supply could be turned off without affecting the rest of the house.

Ron's next step was to unscrew the water lines that he had cut from the faucet. For this, he used what is called a basin wrench, which is an indispensable tool designed solely for the purpose of reaching up behind the sink, grabbing a nut in it's jaws and loosening it enough so that it can be removed by hand. And it accomplishes all of this in a very tight space that would be impossible to get to with an conventional wrench.

Ron worked the tool in a ratcheting motion, backing off the nut a fraction of a turn at a time until he could remove it with his fingers.

He used the same tool to loosen the retaining nuts holding the faucet base to the sink. Finally with everything free, he lifted out the old faucet.

Underneath the old faucet was quite a bit of dried plumber's putty, which cleaned up fairly easily with a plastic putty knife. Ron recommends using a cloth or plastic scrub pad to gently remove the remaining putty residue without scratching the sink.

After removing all of the pieces of the old faucet, Ron began installing the new, beginning with new shutoff valves for below the sink.

Ron slipped the valves on the copper pipe and tightened the compression fittings using two wrenches, which kept the valves from spinning and helped avoid twisting the pipe.

The first step in installing the new fixture was to place a rubber "O" ring on the faucet base. Ron then inserted the lower end of the faucet into the hole in the sink.

Underneath, he slipped on a mounting plate and washer, followed by a retaining nut.

Ron used the plastic socket wrench that came with the fixture and inserted a screwdriver to use as a handle to get the leverage he needed.

Next Ron inserted the spray nozzle hose into the end of the faucet and pushed it all the way through and out the bottom.

The faucet Ron installed had individual valves for hot and cold water.

Ron featured adjustable self-closing hinge called the Tru-Close Multi-Adjust Hinge. To install these, first mount the base plates to the post and gate and then bolt the hinges to the plates first on the gate side and then on the post.

Ron applied plumber's putty to the valve base to make a watertight seal to prevent water from dripping into the cabinet below.

If the sink weren't already installed in the countertop, Ron would have been able to do this next step himself, but because it was already in place, he needed a hand.

Peter pushed the valve up through the hole from under the sink and Ron held it in place. Once it was in position, he hand tightened the nuts from below.

Ron further secured the valves by tightening them with a basin wrench.

This is a two valve faucet, which means that when both valves are open, cold water flows through one and hot water through the other. Tubes connect the valves to the faucet hose where the hot and cold water blend together and stream out through the nozzle.