by Jay Sigal

Created on: March 01, 2009

Chapter: KITCHEN FAUCET REPLACEMENT

O.K., in response to a number of requests to make replacing a common kitchen faucet foolproof, here is the way to do it. Follow the steps as outlined and in about two hours, voila! A new shiny and more importantly "not dripping" faucet will grace your kitchen counter top. Ready, here we go with the replacement:

NOTE:

While this article is written as replacing a KITCHEN FAUCET, the steps can be assumed to work for almost any sink-top mounted faucet replacement.

1) Clear EVERYTHING from under the sink. I mean E V E R Y T H I N G! Wipe the bottom of the cupboard out and make it clean. Trust me, in the middle of a repair you do not want to find yourself laying on your back in the middle of a puddle of Drano. If you have never done so, please, take my word for it - Drano really burns. Soall of the "stuff" from under the counter has been removed and the floor of the cabinet has been wiped out.

2) Go over the list of required tools to make this replacement and make sure they are all organized on the floor in your work area, which is now considered to be the entire kitchen floor. Make sure the paths to the refrigerator as well as the nearest bathroom are free of obstruction. This is very important for obvious reasons.

3) Now, look for and find the HOT
& COLD water "angle stops". The angle stops in most homes in North America, will be located on the back wall of the cabinet under the sink. As you face them, * the HOT WATER is on the left and the
COLD WATER is on the right. These control the water going to the faucet. They are the fallback on/off controls for a completely leaky, broken and out of control faucet. You have to turn them both off. This stops the flow of water to the faucet. It may take up to four or five turns to completely shut each one off. When you first begin this shut-off, grasp the angle stop knob between your thumb and forefinger and turn it to the right gently at first, as it may have been a very long time since it was last moved from its current position and you don't want to snap it off. As you turn each one completely off reach up and test to see if there is any water coming out of the faucet while the faucet is opened. No water coming out is a good thing.

* This is the way you should have yours set as well. If it is not that way now, you can choose to leave it the way it is OR you can make the change by merely switching which water line goes to which side of the faucet inlet in STEP #14 when replacing the new water

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