Articles By Syndicated Columnist
Dan Thomas
© Copyright Home
Improvement Inside And Out
Repairing
A Washerless Faucet
Washerless faucets are generally easy to fix. If you can
find a company
name on your faucet, write it down, and take it with you to a hardware store.
Below is a general guide to repairing your faucet.
Shut off the water from
beneath your sink (see shutoff valves). Next, turn on both of your faucets hot
and cold to make certain the water is off and to ease the pressure in the
lines so that water does not spray out when you take your faucet apart.
On the top of your faucet handle, you will find a cap that covers a screw.
Remove this cap with a screwdriver. Take out the screw and remove the handle.
Beneath the handle, there will be a nut that keeps the faucet cartridge or
stem in place. Removing this nut will free the faucet’s cartridge or stem
allowing you to remove. It might not come out that easy you may have to pry it
out or pull it out with a set of pliers. This is the chanciest stage, given
that if the stem breaks you may have a difficult time in taking out the
remainder of the body.
The next step applies to specific brands. You either
will or will not locate a washer beneath the stem in an area of the faucet’s
housing. Delta-style faucets, come with a cylindrical washer and a spring
underneath. Make certain to look at the position of the spring. The small end
of the spring is up, and not down. You might have to change the whole stem if
you do not find a washer. The best thing to do when repairing an unfamiliar
fixture is to take the pieces to a plumbing or hardware store to get parts
that match exactly.
To reassemble your faucet put the pieces back together, but
in the opposite order.
Tip:
If a dripping faucet is getting on your nerves before you or a plumber has
time to fix it, tie a 2-foot long string around the nozzle and drop the
string's end into the drain. The drops will run silently down the string as
the faucet drips.
Fact:
Were you aware that in one year a hot water faucet that is leaking a single
drop of water a second wastes two hundred gallons of water? Fixing a leaky
water faucet will decrease your energy bills significantly.
