Changing a Kitchen Faucet

Our old kitchen faucet was becoming more of a sprinkler; the button that switched from stream to spray had broken. Here what it looked like:

The first step in replacing a faucet is to shut off the water supply. This is done by closing the stop cocks on both supply lines. In my case, there is only one handle (the other one broke last time I changed the faucet), so it has to be moved between the valve on the right (cold water shutoff) and the one on the left (hot). The valve in the middle shuts off the supply to the dishwasher.

Next, the supply tubes need to be disconnected from the old faucet. Undo the nuts carefully with a large crescent wrench. At the same time, disconnect the hose from the sprayer.

Next, undo the nut or collar at the bottom of the faucet. In my case, the collar had to be unscrewed first, then threaded off by hand. Once you have it off, slide it over the supply lines and down the hose.

Remove the weight from the hose, then finish removing the collar or nut.

Once these are removed, you should be able to pull the old faucet off from the top. In my case, the washer had rusted to the faucet, so some force was required to pull it free. Next, cleanup any debris under the old faucet.

Next, if you are installing a one hole faucet on a two or three hole sink, install the plate that goes under the faucet, gluing it down with silicone. Note that in my case, the new faucet didn’t come with a plate, so I reused the one from the old faucet.

Finally:

1. Feed the hose and the supply lines through the hole from the top
2. From the bottom, slide the washer and the threaded collar or nut over the hose and the supply lines
3. Tighten the collar or nut as much as you can; this is tricky, as the sinks get it the way of a wrench
4. If your faucet came with a collar rather than a nut, tighten the screws in the collar
5. Attach the hose to the sprayer supply line coming down from the faucet
6. Install the weight on the sprayer side of the hose, just above the low point
7. If the supply tubes are metal, you should replace them with flexible hoses
8. Apply plumbing tape to the threads of the supply lines to the sink
9. Attach both supply tubes/hoses, hot and cold, making sure you get them right way around
10. Turn on both supplies, checking the connections of the supply tubes to the faucet to make sure they aren’t leaking or dripping

The result: