You can save a great deal of money--and spiff up your bathroom's appearance--by installing a new faucet yourself. Materials: A basin cock wrench
Philips- and flat-head screwdrivers
Slip-joint pliers
Adjustable pliers
Adjustable wrench
Teflon® paste (or Teflon tape)
Bathroom caulk and a caulk gun (or plumber's putty)
New supply tubes
Removing the Existing Fixture - Turn off the water supply at the valves under the sink or at the main water-supply valve.
- Loosen the supply tubes at the hot and cold valves.
- Use the basin wrench to loosen and remove the compression nut at the faucet stem (figure A).
- Remove the nut holding the faucet to the sink, and remove the faucet.
If your new faucet includes a new pop-up for the drain, you may want to replace the old one. If you replace the pop-up assembly, place a bucket under the drain to prevent spills. It's also a good idea to replace any older chrome-plated brass hardware because of its tendency to deteriorate over time. Removing the Existing Pop-Up Drain - Remove the nut above the P-trap, and loosen the nut attached to the P-trap. Remove the P-trap.
- Remove the pop-up lever from the drain.
- Loosen the lock nut holding the drain to the sink.
- Unscrew the drain and the drain flange.
Installing the New Faucet and Drain Pop-Up - Place Teflon paste or tape on the faucet stems.
- If your faucet has a rubber gasket, install it on the base of the faucet before inserting the faucet stems in the appropriate holes in the sink. If your faucet doesn't include a gasket, run a line of caulk under the faucet before installing it.
- Secure the nuts holding the faucet to the sink. Tighten the nuts by hand, then give them another quarter-turn with the basin wrench.
- Connect the supply tubes to the faucet stems.
- Apply Teflon paste to the shutoff valve threads, and tighten the coupling nuts to the faucet-supply stems. Do not overtighten.
- Apply caulk to the underside of the drain flange, and press it into the drain hole.
- Place the lock nut on the drain housing, then place the metal washer and the gasket on the housing (figure B).
- Screw the drain housing tightly to the flange. If the flange begins to rotate, hold it steady by inserting the plastic handle of your pliers.
- Drop the pop-up drain into place, keeping the hole for the control pin toward the rear of the sink.
- Place the bail lever in the side hole of the drain assembly so the control pin fits through the appropriate hole in the pop-up drain.
- Set the drain rod into the hole in the faucet, and attach the connecting link to the faucet rod by tightening the attached screw. Make sure the pop-up is up and the drain rod is down, then attach the bail lever to the connection link, using the V-clip. The pop-up should go down when the lever is pulled up.
- Attach the new drain extension to the P-trap.
- Clean the supply tubes by removing the aerator from the faucet and turning on the water (figure C). While the water is running, check for leaks. Shut the water off after you're certain there are no leaks, and replace the aerator.
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