My tenants called the other day to say their kitchen faucet was leaking. My mind immediately went there: Faucet + leak = $$$
A leaky faucet is doubly awful because not only do I know it’s going to cost money to fix, but is also costs money every minute it ISN’T fixed in higher water bills (drip drip drip). So I couldn’t even sweep it under the rug and forget about it for a few months until I got around to figuring out what to do with it.
Enter WikiHow, the empower-er of all DIY divas. I love WikiHow. It’s easy to follow, doesn’t make me feel stupid and is usually right. It also thinks of the little things like, drape a towel over the sink, because when the screws, washers and other tiny pieces inevitably fall from my clutsy hands (and they did), they won’t fall down the drain (or in my case, into my tenants’ overflowing-with-dirty-dishes sink).
I cut the water, unscrewed the handles and took the parts to my local hardware store Tak’s. Why not Lowe’s? a) it’s farther away b) they don’t have the same service and c) support your local economy! Seek out your local Ace, Baller, Tak’s or other local hardware store. You’ll be glad for their service and know-how, and they’ll be glad for the business.
ANYWAY, Tak’s said they don’t make this part anymore (and before you jaded nelly’s say that they are just trying to keep me from going to Lowe’s, NO. They’ve sent me to Lowe’s plenty of times if they don’t have the part and know Lowe’s does, because they are here to help, and that is why I love them) and I need a new faucet. “But it’s an old wall mount faucet” I said. “How will I match it without having to break the wall, and realign and and and…” Alice patted my hand gently and Jarrod pulled out a new version of the exact faucet.
Alice walked me through changing out the faucet (also not as hard as it sounds) and within a few minutes, my empowered self was back in my car, on my way to crush that faucet.
What I am say is, there are things you can easily fix on your own. Instead of calling the plumber, take the $75 you would have spent on the house-call and buy some basic plumbing tools. Your local hardware store can point you in the right direction.
Total Time: 1:15 (including travel to get parts)
Total cost: $52 (including tax but not including the new pruning shears I bought while I was there)
https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Leaky-Faucet