If you experience waking up in the middle of the night to the irritating noise of drip, drip, drip from a leaky faucet, it’s probably time you learn how to fix a leaky faucet. Doing so will save you the trouble of calling up a plumber, and will save you from high plumbing bills.
Why call a plumber when you can do it by yourself? This article will show you how to fix a leaky faucet in simple and easy to understand steps.
Here are some basic tools and materials you will need:
– Screwdriver – Washers
Before You Start
1. Turn off the water supply. Look under your sink and search the pipes for a shut-off valve. Once you locate it, turn its handles counter-clockwise to shut it
off.
2. Be prepared with a variety of replacement parts, including washers and O-rings.
3. Make sure to plug down the drain (maybe with rags). This is to avoid having small parts like screws and washers go down the drain.
4. As you go about your work, remember to line up the parts according to the order it was taken apart. This is so that you will be able to reassemble it correctly
later on.
Start Working!
1. The first thing you should do is remove the faucet handles. For this, you canuse your screwdriver to remove the screws that are holding them together. Once the screws are removed, you can easily remove the handles using a flathead screwdriver or you may have to pry it open.
2. Once the faucet handles are removed, detach the old washer located behind the handle. Don’t worry if there isn’t one. Instead, go buy one.
3. Using the washer that you’ve purchased, place it where the old washer used to be. The hole in the washer should just be a little bit bigger than the post that the handle turns.
4. Reconstruct the faucet. Remember to do replace the parts in the opposite order as when you took it apart. Put the handle back to its post and screw it in. In screwing it, make sure that you do not tighten it too much, since this can cause damage to brass fittings. Keep it hand-tight.
5. Test it. Turn your water on by turning the handles of your shut-off valve clockwise or to the left.
6. There shouldn’t be any leaky faucet if everything went well. If not, though, try tightening the screws a wee bit more, or repeat the whole process again. If that still doesn’t work, and if all else fails, admit defeat and call a plumber.
Miscellaneous Tips
Upon going to the hardware to purchase a washer, make sure tha you ask assistance from the employee. He or she might just know what specific type of washer is needed for sinks, or for the type and brand of sink that you have at home.
Lime build up can be a cause for leaky faucets. If you observe lime build up on your faucet handle post, you can clean it off using lime away products.
With that, there’s really no need for you to call a plumber and pay huge plumbing costs right? Just get up, fix a leaky faucet yourself, and sleep in pure, unadulterated slumber.
