DIY Network

Ed Finds a Groupie ... and Then is Taken to School

Master gardener Ed Del Grande, host of Ed the Plumber, gives tips on installing a bar sink faucet and then shares letters from viewers.

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Since bar sinks are small, a bar faucet has a high, candy cane-like spout to give extra room for things like blenders and tall glasses to fit under the spout for easy filling.

Q: Hi, Ed. Your column has done wonders for regular readers like me. I'm now a plumbing groupie! I moved into my present home about a year ago, and one of the big selling points for me was that the basement was fixed up and even has a wet bar with a small bar sink. I always knew something was a little off with the sink and finally realized that the bar sink has a standard bathroom faucet, not a real bar sink faucet. The drain is a regular bar sink strainer-type, though. Your column has given me the inspiration to change the present faucet to a "real" bar sink faucet! What do I have to keep in mind when changing from one type of faucet to another? Thanks for the info! -- Kevin, Minnesota

A: You are off to a good start, Kevin, by asking for information up front! I can tell you're a regular reader because I always stress that people research a plumbing project before diving in without knowing what they might be up against.

Plumbing is one of those jobs where things can go wrong in a second. In fact, I always wanted to do a TV show called "When good pipes turn bad!" Anyway, I digress. The good news is that your present faucet seems to be working fine or I'm sure you would have mentioned any problems. So that means your plumbing water lines under the bar sink probably are in good shape.

So begin by turning off the hot and cold water valves to make sure the valves are working. If they shut down the flow of water to the faucet, then disconnect the faucet and remove the faucet from the sink. The good news is that since you do have a standard bar sink drain strainer and not a pop-up style stopper, there should be no need to touch the drain setup at all, making this a fairly easy switch.

With the faucet removed, you should now have two open holes in the bar sink about four inches apart--the spacing usually needed to accept a bar-type faucet. Since bar sinks are small, a bar faucet has a high, candy cane-like spout to give extra room for things like blenders and tall glasses to fit under the spout for easy filling. I can see why a standard low spout faucet would be an inconvenience.

This is not an emergency job, so take your time. After you have picked out the bar-style faucet you like, simply mount it to your present sink and reconnect the hot and cold supply lines with braided flexible faucet connectors for an easy installation.

If you have a big party coming up, let me know, I'll be glad to stop by and check out your work!

READERS: This is not really a question, but simply me talking to you. I have a theory in life that no one person can have all the answers no matter how big an expert they may be. To become an expert is a matter of sharing information and listening to other experts in your field. Anyone that claims they know all the answers means that they have stopped learning.

So, bearing that in mind, I want to share things that I have learned from you! My readers write me all the time with tips and information. Here are a couple that are very interesting:

When I wrote a column about hot and cold water crossover connections and I said I didn't know why hot water always travels deep into the cold water lines, a retired middle school science teacher from Rhode Island wrote to remind me why this happens:

"Dear, Ed. You must have forgotten that "hot water molecules move faster and when they touch slower cold water molecules they move them faster, increasing the temperature of the water. So the warmer molecules don't have to move ... they just keep passing the heat (energy) from the faster moving ones to the slower-moving ones!"

And when I mentioned that I sometimes use a damp rag to cool down hot joints that have just been soldered, a metals engineer in Colorado reminded me that; "The copper pipe and solder used to make the joint are "dissimilar" metals and will cool and contract at different rates. This may cause wiggling in the joint, and under the right circumstances could lead to a bad joint."

Thanks for all your questions and letters and please continue to write. I do get to read them and, as you can see, I do learn from them!

(Ed Del Grande is a certified master plumber and hosts DIY's Ed the Plumber. Send plumbing questions to him at edtheplumber@diynetwork.com. For building-code concerns, always contact your local government office or a local licensed plumber.)

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