Your kitchen faucet serves an important role and is an integral part of this room. This device works hard to play its role in washing dishes daily and works to maintain the overall cleanliness of the kitchen. As a result, it won’t last forever. The parts that keep your faucet running smoothly wear over time and this is why it will leak every once in a while.

Modern faucets are fairly easy to fix, and doing these repairs yourself can go smoothly if you follow the right steps and collect the right parts. We’ve compiled a step-by-step guide for fixing that leaky kitchen faucet, and you should have that stream of water up and running in no time.

Follow our easy kitchen faucet repairs!

Gather Your Tools

source: Pixabay, vienhoang

The tools you’ll need will vary from faucet to faucet, but there are some definite things that every faucet repair requires. Firstly, you’ll need an Allen wrench, a flat head screwdriver, a spanner as well as slip-joint pliers and needle nose pliers. Next, you should head down to your local hardware store and locate a faucet repair kit, as well as a hot and cold water diverter and packing grease. These are the main items you’ll need to have a successful repair, though other necessary items may be required depending on the brand or manufacturer.

Remove the Faucet

The first step to any faucet repair is to turn off the water! You don’t want to be halfway into a repair and have water streaming everywhere. Also, turn on the faucet to allow for excess water that is trapped in the pipe to drain. Grab your Allen wrench and use it to loosen the setscrew on the handle, as this will allow you to remove the handle. Line up the faucet parts as you remove them, making it easier to reconstruct once the repairs have been completed.

Now is the time to grab your slip joint pliers and remove the chrome bonnet. It is recommended that you wrap tape around the teeth of the pliers, as this will prevent them from damaging the chrome. Next, remove the ball and cam assembly. With your needle nose pliers, fish out the spring and packing pieces from inside the exposed pipe. This is the time to clean out any sediment or buildup that has collected, and that may be affecting your water flow.

Grab the spout with both hands in order to remove it from the faucet face, working in a back and forth motion. This step may require a little bit of elbow grease, so make sure to roll up those sleeves! Use your spanner to remove the o-ring, and use your needle nose pliers to remove the diverter. The diverter is the value that works to direct the water to a specific outlet, and over time this wears down. Again, make sure to clean any sediment that has collected on the faucet face.

Reassemble the Faucet!

source: Pixabay, vienhoang

Now it’s time for you to reassemble the components of the faucet. Press the new diverter into place, firmly holding it down. Next, install the new o-rings, installing the top o-ring before the bottom one. Coat the o-rings in packing grease, as packing grease works to withstand high water temperatures and protects all faucet components.

The inside of your faucet is good to go! All that’s left is to attach the spout. Press the spout back into place, using both hands to firmly secure it. If you’ve been thinking about changing up the look of your faucet, now would be the right time. Before going forward with repairs, maybe consider taking a shopping trip to see what kinds of styles are on the market!