How to fix a leaking faucet yourself

[00:00] your faucets leaking and you're not that

[00:02] do-it-yourself type of person don't call

[00:04] a plumber just yet Krista Williamson is

[00:07] here to help and she says a leaky faucet

[00:10] well it's an easy fix we'll see how easy

[00:13] it is what's the first step that we need

[00:15] to do okay well this time we're here and

[00:18] we're working on the supply side so

[00:20] water is being delivered here and it's

[00:21] under pressure so we've got to turn the

[00:23] water off turn the water off if we don't

[00:24] do that then you'll have a surprise and

[00:27] you won't do it twice so if under your

[00:30] sink you've got water shutoffs then turn

[00:34] those off if you find that when you look

[00:37] under there you don't have shutoff

[00:38] valves and you're going to have to turn

[00:39] off your main water valve either way

[00:42] you've got to stop the water from coming

[00:44] to the faucet then go ahead and turn

[00:45] these on and get that last little bit of

[00:47] water out of here the next thing I do is

[00:51] either stopper my drain or just drop a

[00:54] little towel in there because there are

[00:55] a few small parts that are going to come

[00:57] out of these handles then have to work

[00:59] on another good we don't really want to

[01:01] make this project bigger than it was so

[01:03] okay what are the tools that you need

[01:05] okay you're going to need a screwdriver

[01:07] and you will probably need some sort of

[01:09] adjustable wrench and then these are

[01:11] tools that you may potentially need this

[01:12] is a little putty knife that's going to

[01:14] help us get to the screw to remove this

[01:16] handle and these are Allen wrenches some

[01:19] handles are held on with Allen wrenches

[01:20] this one isn't so we won't need it in

[01:22] this case but so the way to find the

[01:26] washer or the valve stem that needs to

[01:30] be replaced in order to stop your faucet

[01:32] from dripping you can always follow your

[01:33] handle and that applies whether this is

[01:35] a sink faucet or a tub or a shower and

[01:40] same for kitchen faucets as it is for

[01:42] this bathroom so under here what's

[01:44] holding this handle in place is a screw

[01:47] so we're just going to remove that

[01:49] mm-hmm

[01:51] and so since they're all different do

[01:53] you need is there any advice online or

[01:56] in case that what you need to do there's

[01:58] all sorts of stuff on behind your

[01:59] workshop absolutely this is the sort of

[02:01] thing that we cover in our basic home

[02:03] repair workshop so we're gonna move this

[02:05] little piece right here and then see

[02:07] this big nut

[02:08] holding the valve in place so you just

[02:12] need a this isn't something that's on

[02:15] there particularly tight so you just

[02:17] loosen that up and remove it okay and

[02:24] then you're gonna replace them we are

[02:26] going to pull this out and see what we

[02:27] have on it you don't really want to mess

[02:31] this up so if you use a little paper

[02:33] towel or some sort of talent when you're

[02:35] grabbing then you won't then chances are

[02:37] you can put it back in place this

[02:39] particular valve stem is sort of a throw

[02:42] it away and replace the entire valve

[02:43] stem pretty inexpensive yeah you can do

[02:46] this for less than $10 this one I have

[02:49] in my pocket here is actually from an

[02:52] older faucet and these are meant to be

[02:54] repaired that little washer that you see

[02:56] down here that old on with a screw you

[02:58] can buy these washers at any hardware or

[03:00] home improvement store and just replace

[03:02] those and then you slip this back down

[03:04] in just as you would this so this one

[03:08] you can be repaired this one is a throw

[03:10] away you might not take it with you to

[03:13] your to your hardware store get a

[03:15] matching one so when she looked in a

[03:17] professional when water spraying

[03:20] everywhere I tried I tried to do it

[03:23] myself you know I have had I've had it

[03:26] where I haven't been able to repair it

[03:27] just because there's been so much

[03:29] corrosion in the faucet and so then it

[03:32] becomes it's it's not so much calling in

[03:35] a professional as that you know you

[03:36] could potentially want to replace the

[03:38] faucet itself okay okay so you go ahead

[03:41] and finish

[03:42] I'm so sorry hey no no just putting it

[03:44] back together you want to slip it in

[03:45] there's a little alignment in there by

[03:46] the way there is a difference between

[03:47] hot and cold sometimes so make sure you

[03:51] have the right one yeah otherwise you'll

[03:53] be turning your faucet in funny ways

[03:55] that you wouldn't and there you go you

[03:57] just fixed it in less than three minutes

[03:59] yeah it's a very simple fix

[04:01] um you know it's a perfect fix for

[04:03] homeowners and really quick people can

[04:05] find you at your k2 workshops and and

[04:07] and get your help some hands-on help

[04:10] each lots of things we teach we've got

[04:11] an electrical workshop coming up this

[04:13] weekend we teach tiling we teach just

[04:15] beginning projects like this and lots of

[04:17] other specialized projects well thank

[04:20] you for coming in for sharing

[04:21] this great do-it-yourself project